Theatre Royal Haymarket – until 27 September 2025
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
5*****
Transferring to the West End after a sell-out run at the National last year, Beth Steel’s brilliant portrayal of family and culture clashes loses none of its bite and soul.
Set in a Nottinghamshire town that was once a mining community but now relies on a huge warehouse for jobs, Steel addresses political issues and prejudices with a deft touch as these instantly recognisable and relatable characters interact. It’s the day of Sylvia (Sinéad Matthews) and Marek’s (Julian Kostov) wedding, and her family are preparing for the big bash. Rumblings of resentments old and new are ever-present amongst the usual pre-wedding nervousness and hilarity between Sylvia and her two sisters.
The action then skips to the reception – where Aunty Carol’s (Dorothy Atkinson) outrage at not being on the top table is the least of the drama, as the drink flows and the casual xenophobic barbed comments that Sylvia lets pass begin to rile Marek. Marek is Polish, and most of the warehouse and manual workers in the town are also Polish, while Hazel’s (Lucy Black) husband has been let go and can’t find a job. Marek’s descriptions of the horrible jobs he’s had to earn enough to start his own business don’t go down well with Hazel and his offer of a job to John is, to her, the final insult. The brilliant line from Marek that she can be a victim or superior, not both sums up the frustration of facing this prejudice on a daily basis.
As well as the politics of post-industrialisation and immigration, Steel also reminds us of the scars from the past – Sylvia’s father and uncle haven’t spoken for decades – and the effects of secrets and lies on the present as teenager Leane (Ruby Thompson) unthinkingly punishes herself and her family, leading to a devastating final scene when truths are finally shared. The oh so familiar drunken shenanigans at the wedding are immediately relatable – it’s England, so rain obviously forces a change of plans. Skilfully directed by Bijan Sheibani, the onstage seating helps with the intimacy of the play – making the audience feel that we are guests at the wedding, and the faux pas, accusations and revelations even more shocking.
The incredible cast are utterly believable as the fractured family. Lucy Black is bristling with anger, fear and frustration as Hazel – just doing the right thing and holding everything together for the family. Aisling Loftus is phenomenal as Maggie, the black sheep of the family, returning after a mysterious disappearance, burning with love for her sisters but carrying a huge amount of guilt and pain. Sinéad Matthews is wonderful as the sweet and pliant Sylvia, and Dorothy Atkinson steals the show as mad Aunty Carol – there’s one in every family! – brilliantly showing more glimpses of her lonely soul as she gets more and more drunk and more and more outrageous.
Beth Steel’s modern masterpiece is hilarious and heartbreaking: beautifully paced as emotions heighten and staged with flair. Political and personal, making you gasp in horror and cry with laughter, this is a wedding you shouldn’t miss.