It is not very often that a play comes along which effectively creates a genre, but in 1956 this is exactly what happened, when John Osborne's "Look Back In Anger" was first performed.

The play centers around Jimmy Porter, an "Angry Young Man", and his long-suffering wife, Alison. They share a flat with Jimmy's best - and now only - friend, with whom Jimmy runs a sweet store. Jimmy has never been on good terms with Alison's family or friends, and when one of those friends, Helena, comes to stay for a few weeks, it is the beginning of the end for Jimmy, Alison and Cliff. There is a twist at the end of Act Two that isn't quite in the same league as "The Sixth Sense", but which is still unexpected and makes the whole play even more interesting.

The set, lights and sounds were all very good, ensuring that the production, and not just the script, is very impressive. It was, however, an aspect of the script which really shone through - the language was rich, varied, and added to the play without being melodramatic and seeming over the top.

The opening twenty minutes were slightly weak, but once the cast had warmed to the performance the show started to pick up, and Acts two and three were much more impressive than the first, solid though that was.

Nick Moran, of "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" fame, starred as Jimmy Porter, and along with Mark Meadows opposite him as Cliff, seemed made for the role. There was a bit of volume missing from Moran when loud shouting was required which made it hard to differentiate between normal Jimmy and angry Jimmy at times, but other than that these two stole the show. Moran managed to control the stage as Jimmy, portraying his character in a pitch perfect performance, and Meadows is the perfect "Welsh Ruffian" to coin a line for Moran to bounce off. The rest of the cast offered up solid performances, supporting this comedy double-act. 

A lot of the humour (and indeed the overall mood) in this play is very dark, causing the audience to be slightly uneasy when laughing at something, and the whole really makes you think about all the issues which come up in it. There are moments of sheer comic genius, juxtaposed straight away with one of chilling suspense, all of which makes for a really good show. It is also interesting to wonder what Jimmy would think of our own society, forty-five years after his own.

What is perhaps most surprising about this show is that it has dated very little, if at all, and this is perhaps why John Osborne as a writer is held in such high esteem today. There were a few niggles and moments of weakness, but these do not seem to be the kind that will persist further into the run.