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Theatre: Blindsided

PAUL FOLEY on an eagerly awaited play which loses the plot

Blindsided

Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

2 Stars

Simon Stephens is something of a favoured son at the Royal Exchange.

They've staged his last three critically acclaimed plays and this new work gets its premiere there.

Stephens is clearly a very good playwright. But even great ones produce pieces like Blindsided that should never see the light of day and maybe this one ought to have been kept locked in the bottom drawer.

Set in Stockport in 1979, it explores the unhinged relationship between 17-year-old Cathy and her dodgy boyfriend John.

The publicity blurb for the production describes it as the story of a "battered girl in a battered time" and that what we can expect is a devastating drama about families, love and betrayal.

All well and good but the problem with Stephens's play is that both characters are tediously wooden stereotypes who do not engage emotionally.

In this mash-up of John Osborne, Alan Ayckbourn and Harold Pinter- but without the good bits - it seems that the playwright doesn't really know where he wants the play to go.

In a bid to be edgy and controversial, he stirs a heady mix of all sorts in the script then pours it out like wet concrete on the stage.

There are references to destructive relationships, mental illness, problem communities and crime and modernity, to name a few.

An odd bit of superficial politics is thrown in for good measure with references to grave diggers on strike and the pending arrival of Margaret Thatcher.

It is a real shame. Stephens certainly has the track record - he won an Olivier award for his acclaimed adaptation of Mark Haddon's novel The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night - and the production is directed by the the excellent Sarah Frankcom.

And with a cast including actor of the moment Julie Hesmondhalgh - Hayley Cropper of Coronation Street, who sparked the national debate on assisted suicide - this should have been a cracker, which it it patently is not.

Yet high praise should go to Katie West who, as Cathy, gives an extraordinary performance as she battles not only the demons within but those in the script too.

Let's hope for a return to form from Stephens on his next outing.

Runs until February 15. Box office (0161) 833-9833.

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