Michael Gow’s most recent play, Once in Royal David’s City, opens with the central character, Will Drummond, engaging directly with the audience, plunging headlong into the past and present of his domestic story with great aplomb. Gow demonstrates here, through Drummond’s existential and Marxist beliefs, a key element of Brechtian theatre, central to the play’s structure, whilst utilising the idea of ‘social truth’ to highlight major themes of contemporary life. It is a skilful technique cleverly applied, opening the door to all manner of analysis and critical examination including some of the big issues that constantly plague us – life and death, loss and discovery, hope and fear.

^{Jason Klarwein and Penny Everingham in Once in Royal David’s City. All photos © Philip Gostelow}

The language and rhythm of the play is expertly shaped with social and other themes intertwining, though the principal message about loss and how we react to it is always crystal clear. What Gow does remarkably well is to inject a sense of fun and humour into what could be a grim 100 minutes. He does this through lovingly realised and sharply defined characters, with whom we...