OCCASIONALLY, you go to the theatre expecting something comforting and familiar and what you get is so surprisingly ingenious that it blows you away. This is one of those occasions.

Noel Coward’s 1945 classic Oscar-winning film, Brief Encounter, starred Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard.

Based on Coward’s one-act play Still Life, it tells the sad story of a prim, middle-class couple who meet and fall in love in a railway station buffet.

It’s a very rare talent that can take such a well-known story and turn it into something so delightfully fresh and new.

Taking both the film and the play for inspiration, the pioneering Emma Rice directs Kneehigh Theatre Company, fashioning a charming, whimsical and witty piece of theatre.

Telling the love story of three couples, Rice’s production is playful and ironic, with characters stepping into black and white film footage, toy trains and two beautiful dolls become children. Music is played on stage by the whole cast, with some of Coward’s original songs given a brilliant, modern feel.

The cast includes Milo Twomey as Alec, Hannah Yelland as Laura, Annette Mclaughlin (Myrtle), Christopher Price (Stanley), Joseph Alessi (Fred/Albert) and the captivating Beverly Rudd as Beryl.

The sense of wonderment felt by the audience was palpable. This is British theatre at its very best.

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Helen Brown