Not so much Little Britain as Little England, Simon Armitage's rudely affectionate portrait of life in one small fictional Yorkshire town is a piece of pure popular theatre. Imagine Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood crossed with Jim Cartwright's Road, throw in a dash of Dennis Potter's use of popular song, and you have something of the flavour of an evening that captures both the eccentricities and the wistful hearts of the population of Jerusalem, a place that is definitely not the promised land.
John Edward Castle, a fire-fighting hero like his father before him, was disabled more than 20 years previously in a blaze. Now he never leaves his upstairs room, broadcasting to the outside world and bullying his long-suffering wife, Rose, and ineffectual son. All this, he accomplishes from his bed via some Heath Robinson-ish technology. But when Rose's former lover Spoon returns to town after a 20-year absence and the position of entertainment secretary at the Jerusalem Social Club becomes vacant, Castle prepares to fight for what he wants, unaware that there is more at stake than he realises.
Initially, the script threatens to be too bitty and John Tiffany's playful traverse-style production feels a little too busy for comfort. But things soon settle down into an evening whose greatest pleasure is the way lyricism and toilet humour, the dotty and the mundane, sit cheek by jowl. Sometimes, as in a stunning moment when the bereft Rose sings of her bruised heart while accompanying herself on the cello, the show delivers a knockout emotional punch. If it doesn't always have this kind of power it is in part because Castle is too much of a bully to elicit much sympathy, meaning there is not enough at stake for the audience in Castle and Spoon's battle. But it is a real charmer, performed with terrific flair by cast who make every single character come alive.
· Until December 3. Box office: 0113 213 7700.
