This is acting at its brilliant best with a playwright to match and set against a superb backdrop. What more can you ask of a theatre to give its audience? Hull Truck has given its patrons just what they wanted with “April in Paris”.

Let’s start at the beginning, the stage design by Robert Jones is more than just right, a black and white first scene to match the mood of the play turns into a superb Renoir painting filling the stage with a festive mood for the Paris scenes to bring colour into the lives of those who experience it.

What can you say about John Godber’s writing, it always catches the mood of the times with the right words coming from the characters’ mouths. Godber’s direction is spot on making this new production something special. In this instance his play deals with a disillusioned housewife wanting more from life than it was prepared to give with a husband who offers and seems to want even less. The wife enters endless competitions in “Bella” magazine hoping to win that one competition that will end all that is wrong with her life. Then the competition win happens,the prize — a weekend for two in Paris travelling by North Sea Ferries. This is the setting for this intriguing play. This is a play to see not to be told about, so do that or the magic will disappear.

Now we come to the acting, Sarah Parks as Bet is superb and faultless in this part of the housewife who wants more, her voice gets at you and her antics captivate you as you watch. Robert Angell as Al is dead pan to the point of almost disappearing until his character bursts through and takes the whole of your attention showing you what a superb actor he is. These two actors are giving the performance of their lives and the audience knew it, standing and cheering for numerous curtain calls when the never wanted end to the play comes.

Brilliant. There is nothing else that can be said, but you will say more when you have seen it. You will not stop chattering all the way home as you remember little subtleties in the story. Just a final word. Brillient. © BA

“April in Paris” is in Hull from the 11th of April, 2002 to the 4th of May, 2002.