Classic storyline stays true to its roots

Billy Liar, Oldham Coliseum

It’s a stage and film classic —Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall’s first collaboration fits in beautifully in an intimate theatre like the Coliseum.

We almost feel to be in the Fisher’s claustrophobic front room, watching the typical northern family of the 1960s spend a Saturday at home.

Judging by the age of the audience at last night’s opening, most would have been the same age as the eponymous Billy in the early 1960s and felt instantly at home in the era.

Based on the book by Keith Waterhouse, “Billy Liar” charts how a young man’s excess of exaggeration lands him in hot water — with three girlfriends, one engagement ring, an irate father, exasperated mother and a teenage workmate who is losing patience with his fibbing friend.

Billy is a compulsive liar, but without malice, because he either fibs to impress or get himself out of a sticky situation.

Played by Nathan Hannan, dreamy Billy misses his Saturday shift, unsuccessfully tries to end one engagement to the dopey Barbara (Julia Mallam) to start another with the common Rita (Janey Lawson), but really wants to escape with the exciting Liz (Lucy Evans).

TV star Helen Fraser (“Bad Girls” prison officer Sylvia Hollamby) plays Alice, Billy’s long suffering and exasperated mum, the northern matriarch, capturing brilliantly the houseproud figure desperate for her son to get a grip and make something of himself.

Hannan looks the part — remember Billy is not of age, not 21, and still under strict parental control, making his flights of fancy and imagination one way of escaping the tedium of home life.

Most of the time he’s quick and clever, but sometimes has a tendency to slip into sulky teenager mould, when he’s almost irritating.

Yet he’s good in director Michael Lunney’s staging of his fantasy world, when the action halts and Billy’s dreams fleetingly fill the stage bathed in a rich red glow.

Blustering dad, James Morley, has a good stab at the put-downs which bring Billy back to earth, but there is a gem of a performance from Sally Sanders as Gran, from her crepe stockings and bandaged legs to her rummages in her handbag the way old ladies always do.

And the set for Middle Ground Theatre Company’s touring production ticks all the boxes — three-piece suite, wallpaper, sideboard, fireplace, cocktail cabinet and portable radio are straight out of 1962.

It’s a period piece alright, and that’s no lie.