Hope Place (Liverpool Everyman)

As soon as you sit down to watch this new place, you immediately get a sense of place with this intriguing design: backdrop, staircase and kitchen are actually mapped out.

By contrast, the slow building up of the plot with its various flashbacks has you wanting to know more: why Maggie Byrne is haunted by the past, or what she can remember of it. The trigger is Simon, her niece's boyfriend, and his fascination with local history.

Eileen O'Brien is as ever brilliant, veering between a lifetime's subservience to her entire family and mischievous rebellion. Far less sympathetic, but effectively so, is mercenary sister Veronica (Tricia Kelly) as well as constantly angry brother, Eric (Neil Caple), while Joe McGann provides comic relief as imaginative tour guide Jack.

But you get a lovely bunch of kids (particularly George Turpin's deadpan turn), and Emma Lisi's Josie is delightful as the niece, closely matched by Simon (Ciaran Kellgren), earnest, enthusiastic and posh (from the Wirral), though unaswered questions remain about their relationship.

The villain of the piece, amongst others, is brought to life by Alan Stocks as Richard Byrne, but multi-personality Michelle Butterly is the scene stealer, from Lottie Byrne to a Marie Lloyd character; just her tone of voice or expression is enough to delight the audience.

A curious imbalance in the swearing stakes, none in Part One then prolific, but despite being patchy and sentimentally contrived in parts, this special commission mostly hits the spot.

Hope Place is at the Liverpool Everyman until 31 May.