York Theatre Royal – until Saturday 5 2021
Reviewed by Michelle Richardson
4****
The Greatest Play in the History of the World, written by Ian Kershaw, is a one woman show starring his wife Julie Hesmondhalgh, famous for her role as Hayley in Coronation Street.
The set is relatively simple, the stage reasonably dark, but we can see two metal racks, virtually reaching up to the ceiling, filled with sporadic white boxes. In the middle there are a few lights, emitting am ambient glow. The flooring, which carries on up the back wall, is a glittery dark carpet.
Hesmondhalgh sets about telling the story using the boxes behind her. They are shoe boxes and the footwear in them, represent different “cast members”. There’s a pair of carpet slippers, Tom, who lives on Preston Road and wakes up at 4.40am to find that time has stood still. At first, he thinks he is the only one that this is happening to, as all is black outside, until he sees a light in the house opposite and finds a woman, Sara, wearing an oversized t-shirt staring back at him. A connection is made. Another couple enter the scene, the elderly Forshaws, who are building something in their garden, with talk about Facebook and the local neighbourhood watch scheme. What unfolds is a love story, with a touch of fantasy, and a twist at the end. The story is intertwined with intermittent voice recordings, about Voyager’s Gold Record, sent up into space in 1977.
As a 70 minute monologue, Hesmendhalgh is impressive, holding the audience’s rapt attention. She is so warm and genuine, and has heaps of charisma, delivering a joyful performance. Even though York Theatre Royal is quite a large theatre, this show was very intimate, you almost felt that she was talking just to you.
Whilst the title of The Greatest Play in the History of the World, appears to be ambiguous, there is a reference to it within the script. Maybe not the greatest play but worth a watch to see Hesmondhalgh at work