September in the Rain

Wiltshire Creative has opted for John Godber’s affectionate September in the Rain as its comeback play: strangely apt after a year when many people in the UK have rediscovered the seaside resorts they once knew.

This is very early Godber, first performed by Hull Truck Theatre in 1984, shortly after Godber assumed responsibility as its artistic director. It draws heavily on his experiences of family holidays in Blackpool and the memories of his grandparents, who repeated the annual ritual of stripy deckchairs, donkeys on the sand, picnics and Pac A Macs every year for decades.

Taciturn Yorkshire miner Jack (Ian Kelsey) and talkative Liz (Nicola Sloane) bring 30 years of dodgy lodgings, seaside paddles, and fish and chips on the prom soaked in vinegar and rainwater, vividly to life in Gareth Machin’s pitch-perfect production.

Toots Butcher’s deceptively simple multi-level set and Johanna Town’s imaginative use of lighting conjures up proms, piers, big-dipper rides, B&Bs and sandy beaches.

Sloane and Kelsey deftly handle the shifts of time, drawing in a packed audience as if in a cosy pub chat. Sloane is volatile and perky as she talks us through Liz’s scrapbook of minutely detailed vignettes of married life, starting with their 1950 honeymoon. Kelsey complements her beautifully, rarely changing tempo or emotion, bar the occasional outburst, standing his ground when nagged and chipping in with laconic one-liners. It’s like a wallow in a warm bath as the nights draw in.