No raining on their parade

THE ACCRINGTON PALS
(Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester)

PETER Whelan’s drama of the “Pals” - Accrington having been the smallest town to raise a full World War One battalion of 700 men - is a deserved modern classic, unsentimental and surprisingly funny, given its subject.

Whelan writes not about the glories or otherwise of war but of the lives put on hold while it plays out.

It’s a beautifully-written and ultimately tragic encounter for all concerned: there’s a rael sense the Pals come from a place with something to lose.

James Dacre's hugely satisfying production is beautifully cast; its richness and energy reminded me of the great Exchange productions of past years, characterised by their detail, scale and 100 per cent commitment by well-chosen casts.

The evening is very much about character rather than action, and the characters are richly created here.

There’s the cold but not cold-hearted May (the brilliant Emma Lowndes), younger friend and lodger Eva (Sarah Ridgeway) and her boyfriend Ralph (Oldham’s Gerard Kearns); Eva’s lively pals Sarah (Rebecca Callard) and Bertha (Laura Elsworthy), all with their lives in front of them.

When May’s would-be younger boyfriend Tom (Robin Morrissey), Ralph and older neighbour Arthur (Brendan Charleson) sign up with the sergeant major (Simon Armstrong), little do they realise only a hundred or so will return - and the women and children will mainly be the ones with lasting pain, as Alfred's heartbroken wife Annie (Sarah Belcher) proves.

Jonathan Fensom’s simple but terrific set, with its realistic, glistening cobbles, rain and simple barrows and tables around which the story evolves, combine with a terrific cast and give the Exchange a great start to the year.