Seeing the Lights, Theatre by the Lake, Keswick

The world premiere of Brendan Murray’s Seeing the Lights captures working class northern life in the 21st Century in the same style, eloquence and sheer beauty as the kitchen sink dramas of the late 1950s/60s.

As you walk out of the theatre classic lines come back to you from this brilliant production - like the words from Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey in a Smiths’ song. Morrissey would have a field day with this script, giving him enough material for several new albums.

This production is so well cast. The bond between Laura Cox as Mum and James Duke as Terry on stage captures beautifully the bitter-sweet relationship of mother and adult child. They also look like mother and son.

Set in a northern town, a traditional working class family face caring for a dying mother as well as issues from the past. Mum still living in her terraced house, where M&S is the pinnacle of quality and posh. This mother is proud of her three kids who have done well – a nurse, a co-owners of an underwear business and the golden boy who went to set up a new, better life in the sun the other side of the world.

The warmth of this production is felt throughout the audience, and by the time of the interval you are crying with laughter – and as you walk out at the end its tears of sadness.

This is a classic piece of theatre and one not to miss.

Karen Morley

Seeing the Lights runs until November 7