Our first play of the season was TWO by Jim Cartwright. He has a gift for making us laugh and cry, as he showed to great effect in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. Two, an earlier play, first staged in 1989, is another that skilfully combines humour and pathos. Nigel Jamieson and Trish Ellis stepped into the roles originally played by ‘Brookside’ stars, John McArdle and Sue Johnston.
The action takes place over the course of one evening in a typical Northern pub, and the two actors quickly and seamlessly switch roles to portray fourteen diverse characters, who pull up a stool and let us into their lives. The pub Landlord and Landlady, banter and bicker their way through what at first seems like a typical night at the pumps. As their painful story slowly unfolds throughout the evening, a series of regulars visit the pub.
From the old man who takes quiet comfort in the memory of his late wife, to the fat bobble-hatted couple who come to the pub to eat crisps and watch TV, and the drunken ‘other’ woman arriving to confront her lover, Cartwright presents a kaleidoscope of human life and love.

Article supplied by Gilly Walker of the Hebden Bridge LIttle Theatre