Theatre review: Spring and Port Wine, Bolton Octagon

There can be few plays written in the 1950s about issues pertinent at the time, that remain so relevant today as Spring and Port Wine.

In her programme notes, director Lotte Wakeham explains why she decided to revisit Bill Naughton’s classic. ‘So many of the themes will resonate with what Boltonians are experiencing today: adult children still living under their parents’ roofs, economic pressures, parenting dilemmas and tensions between the generations,’ she writes.

This fast-paced adaptation, which shifts the action to spring 1966 and a weekend that is pivotal for the Crompton family of Bolton.

Performing in round brought the near sell-out audience into the Cromptons’ home where mum is struggling with the family finances, the four children are striving for independence and dad isn’t coping at all well with change.

It’s a production that’s full of charm and humour that is punctuated with tender family moments. There are superb performances, particularly from mum Mina Anwar who must not only balance the books, but also her relationships with her husband, her children and the neighbours.

Former gameshow host Les Dennis lacks some of the intensity as a domineering father that James Mason brought to the film role but still shines as his family’s fortunes falter.

Natalie Blair – who stood out in last year’s BBC hit drama Red Rose, set in Bolton – makes a confident stage debut as daughter Hilda alongside Adam Fenton, Monica Sagar and Gabriel Clark who trained with the Octagon’s Youth Company as a child and worked front of house until 2018.

Isabel Ford plays the irritating woman from next door with perhaps a hint too much farce, particularly after the interval, but manages to evoke that neighbour we have all endured at some stage.

The set is cleverly designed to bring a lot into a small space without appearing cluttered and there’s just enough music to give a flavour of the time. At two and a half hours (including the interval) it’s a lengthy show, but there was no hint of faitgue in the rapturous ovation at the end.

Spring and Port Wine is at the Octagon Theatre Bolton until March 4. To book, call the Octagon Box Office on 01204 520661 or go to octagonbolton.co.uk.