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Theatre: That Day We Sang

PAUL FOLEY recommends a heartfelt show from Victoria Wood

That Day We Sang

Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

4 Stars

In 1929, as the Great Depression was beginning to bite, children from Manchester's mainly working-class elementary schools formed the Manchester School Children's Choir.

One day in June that year boys and girls set off by bus and tram to the Free Trade Hall where, accompanied by the famous Halle Orchestra, they recorded Purcell's Nymphs And Shepherds.

This real event is the backdrop to Victoria Wood's beautiful play with music, this year's festive offering at the Royal Exchange.

The play is set in 1969, when Granada TV tracks down some of the children to get their reflections on the great day. Two of the survivors are Jimmy (Tubby) Baker and Enid Sutcliffe, for whom the intervening 40 years have not been kind.

Tubby has lived alone with his bitter mother who banned music from the house and Enid has settled for a mundane life, snatching periodic and unfulfilling sex with her boorish boss.

The play juxtaposes the preparations for the big day in 1929 with the rekindling of the friendship between Tubby and Enid and the question arises whether this chance reunion offer a new start for this kindhearted pair.

In the hands of a lesser writer than Victoria Wood, and a less accomplished director than Sarah Frankcom, this could have come across as sentimental mush. Instead we are given a warm, sad but ultimately uplifting and charming production.

The two leads, Dean Andrews as Tubby and Anna Francolini as Enid, give beautifully nuanced performances which pull unashamedly at the heart strings.

The children who make up the choir excel at recreating the sense of excitement and joy that must have been felt by the youngsters gereations ago and there are great songs interspersed throughout the performance which are laced with Wood's trademark humour.

Originally it premiered at the Manchester International Festival a few years ago but it has been totally reconfigured for the Exchange's unique round space and it works superbly.

A smashing play and a nice homage to an event celebrating working-class culture in one of our great cities.

And it is fantastic that even in this this fast-moving age, the 1929 recording is still available as a digital download or on YouTube.

Runs until January 18. Box office: (0161) 833-9833

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