Review - Enjoy, Festival Theatre, Malvern, until Saturday.

AN absolute gem in which Alan Bennett’s penchant for picking out the tiny nuances of family life in a northern town really does shine through in what is a dark but definitely enjoyable comedy.

Written in 1980 and set in his home town of Leeds, it ‘observes’ an ageing couple living in the city’s last back-to-back as demolition goes on around them.

A sociologist – supposedly female – arrives to observe them in their normal daily life, but normality can’t exist under the microscope and only adds to the quirkiness and surreal feel.

With her easily recognisable voice, face and acting and comedic talent, Alison Steadman is deservedly one of our best-loved and most prolific actresses.

This is Bennett at his brilliant best and she and David Troughton give his wonderfully witty script the full works.

It was a sheer joy and a privilege to be part of an audience that lapped it up and proclaimed it so loudly.

AJW