Slice of life comedy is full of heart.

Gordon Steel is a playwright I have somehow managed to miss in my years of theatregoing. After seeing a production of his wonderful play ‘Albert Nobbs’ in Lichfield last night, I fully intend to see everything he’s ever written. Warm, witty and wise, it is a story about ordinary life which manages to balance hilarity and heartbreak beautifully.

Lichfield Players’ production, directed by Stefan Dufaye, is a perfectly cast gem, the four-strong company mining both the comedy and the poignancy in equal measure. Staged in the Garrick studio, a simple set – armchair, sideboard, table and chairs – neatly places us in the living room of Albert and Connie Nobbs to tell a tale of love, life, death, marriage and moving on.

There’s something distinctively northern about the play, and it’s not just the accents. The humour is rooted in the everyday. Observations about ordinary life reminded me of Victoria Wood on more than one occasion and there is an irresistible joy in the language of argument and insult: “daft sod”, “soft bugger.”

Chris Stanley is terrific in the title role of the cantankerous, short-tempered but deeply loyal Albert. The play takes us through 40 years of marriage and he’s convincing at every stage, from being duped into a proposal through to retirement and memory troubles (“have I taken mi tablets?”). It’s a deeply affecting performance: funny, heartfelt and, in two memorable scenes featuring baggy Y-fronts and a leopard print thong, brave.

Denise Baker’s Connie is more than a match for Albert, proving that bickering really is the root of a successful marriage. Deep affection shines through the squabbling and sniping in both wonderfully naturalistic performances. The shift to beyond-the-grave bickering in the second half works brilliantly, tackling the aftermath of the death of a spouse with a moving lightness of touch.

Although we never meet their daughter, who has emigrated to New Zealand, conversations about her and a granddaughter are peppered throughout the play, hinting at a wider family and world. Connie’s friend Rose, played by Carol Talbot in another naturalistic and moving performance, is much closer to home, highlighting the importance of a support network and companionship when Albert finds himself alone. Rosemary Bodger’s comic turn as neighbour Alice, all animal-print and ill-fitting dentures, completes a top-notch cast.

What sticks is the generosity and compassion of the writing, taking us from light-hearted domestic discord to the shattering pain of grief in tonal shifts which hit home powerfully. One moment we are laughing about Albert’s bad back thwarting an energetic attempt to get passionate, the next we are weeping with him as he buries his head in Connie’s dress, drawing in her smell in a desperate desire to be reunited with her.

Billed as ‘a blithe spirit for the working class’, ‘Albert Nobbs’ delights and devastates in equal measure, exactly what excellent theatre should do. Don’t miss it.

‘Albert Nobbs’ finishes its all-too-short run at Lichfield Garrick Theatre today, Saturday 26^th October 2024. Highly recommended.