J B Priestly isn’t a name that sits in the forefront of my mind. A nagging feeling tells me that I should know him and a brief search on Wikipedia later reminds me that he’s the brain behind An Inspector Calls, not a play that I have a happy relationship with considering the three months spent at university studying perfectly good drama and dissecting it until it became nothing more than a specimen purely for study and not enjoyment. I fear I’ve moved off on a tangent…

    Anyone who has read one of my pervious reviews, or my comments about Pentameters theatre will know that I’m a fan. It’s an intimate space with a stage that puts other fringe theatres to shame with its size and versatility. Over Christmas, Butterfly Wheel’s The Nutcracker turned it into a magic and distorted world and that makes the new set all the more surprising and oddly homey. The Long Mirror is set in a small hotel situated in north Wales in the 1930s, one that I could swear I’ve been in before… Hats off to John Dalton for a job well done there.

    The story is of a woman, Branwen Elder, who has spent the last five years of her life experiencing visions of a man who she has never met. Through these visions, she has grown to know him ‘better than he knows himself’ and has developed a deep love for the gentleman. The man in question is Michael Camber, a successful composer who is on his way to the hotel in Wales to meet his wife and save, or end, his marriage. Branwen Elder intends to be there.

    I’m a big fan of anything involving the supernatural, so was pleased with the way this play was heading. Not only are we presented with a potentially chilling story of love and loss, Priestly has made the correct move in including two characters who provide a welcome light relief in the form of Mrs Tenbury and Thomas, the man servant. Mrs Tenbury is played convincingly by Karin Fernald and is highly enjoyable whenever she is on stage. The most popular member of this cast however is clearly Simon Purdey in the role of Thomas. Despite a Welsh accent worthy of a part in Gavin and Stacey, every time Purdey is on stage it’s a delight, and I found myself hoping that every entrance to the stage was one of his. The story would succeed without him, but the play would not.

    Moving back to the three main protagonists of this piece brings us to the main thrust of this story. Of course, not wanting to give anything way, the narrative deals with Michael Camber’s discovery of Branwen Elder’s ‘power’ and the events that ensue. Branwen Elder is played by Eva Gray, a suitably haunted looking actress who I truly believe has spent the past five years living not one, but two lives. Her opposite, Manson’s wife Valerie, is cast excellently in the form of Amanda Sterkenburg. Never could there have been two more opposite women.

    Finally we come to our lead male. David Manson, and one of the main reasons I would suggest seeing this play. Manson is a dominating actor and brilliant in the role of Michael Camber. Swinging between emotional extremes, Manson portrays perfectly a man on the edge, who yet still has some emotion and love left somewhere in his soul.

    The Long Mirror at Pentameters Theatre is well worth seeing and it fantastic to see plays of this calibre in such an intimate venue. It runs until the 6th February.