INSIDE this production there's a good play waiting to escape. Unfortunately, it's still locked inside at the moment.

Murray Gold's piece centres around three decorators who've overstayed their welcome working on creating a "quiet room" in Katherine's flat. A job that should have taken weeks has lasted months.

She finally loses her cool, with matters coming to an electrifying finale with the arrival of her priggish boyfriend Michael.

Gold can't quite decide if he's writing a drama with occasional laughs or an almost-farcical comedy with dramatic moments. Director Ian Brown's production is similarly uncertain of which route to take, and ends up in no man's land.

It might work better if, in a very wordy play, we could feel some emotional attachment to the characters. Only Bizzy, the youngster of the bunch, elicits any kind of sympathy at all. The others just prattle on and on instead of getting on with the job in hand.

Christopher Eccleston never seems entirely comfortable as Jakey, perhaps because of the accent he's required to adopt. Sophie Ward is suitably uptight in Katherine's big speech, while Andrew Scarborough wanders dangerously close to caricature as her exasperated boyfriend.

* Runs until April 24. Tickets 0113-213 7700.

Published: 06/04/2004