REVIEW: ONE DAY WHEN WE WERE YOUNG by Nick Payne at Barons Court Theatre 29 May – 3 June 2023

‘Lightening changes of period spanning the decades from 1942, are brilliantly achieved’ ★★★★★ 

One Day When We Were Young, written by award winning playwright Nick Payne, was first performed at the Crucible in Sheffield in 2011. This revival by young emerging company, Just a Regular House, uses the quirky space of Barons Court Theatre (in the basement of the Curtains Up pub) to great effect. 

With four pillars hemming in the playing space, there is a sense of claustrophobia and tension in this three-act play of fractured love spanning the decades from 1942. Leonard and Violet are in love and making plans for their future on the eve of Leonard’s departure to the war. Whilst she promises to wait, the vagary of war intervenes, and their plans change. They meet again in middle age and finally in old age. 

There is a wonderful input from director Connor McCrory especially on the lightening changes of period which are so successful, and cleverly achieved. Sound and light are used sparingly and judiciously to give a sense of place and time whilst allowing the actors to hold centre stage throughout.  The sense of rapport between the actors is palpable, and the slightly sentimental ending is just gorgeous.

Laura Mugford is delightful as Violet. It’s easy to fall in love with her charming smile, her beautiful voice with its impeccable 40s enunciation and her totally believable unflappability in a crisis. Joseph Ryan-Hughes, as the vulnerable Leonard, is a wonderful foil for her, somehow managing to be heroic in his steadfastness and yet still convey his pain. Both actors inhabit their characters as they age with brilliant physicality. 

The script is a gift, no doubt, and this young company have pulled it off, without the whistles and bells of a large budget. Their precision timing and attention to detail makes them stand out as a company with a future.

ONE DAY WHEN WE WERE YOUNG

At Barons Court Theatre, Hammersmith & Fulham W14 9HR

Box Office: https://app.lineupnow.com/event/one-day-when-we-were-young-by-nick-payne

Cast:

Laura Mugford – Violet

Joseph Ryan-Hughes – Leonard

Creatives:

Author: Nick Payne

Director; Connor McCrory

Designer: Laura Mugford

Produced by Just a Regular House

Reviewed by Heather Jeffery, Editor of London Pub Theatres Magazine