Writer: Julie Hesmondhalgh
Well, this hour at Newcastle’s Live Theatre is everything you could hope for it to be. Actor Julie Hesmondhalgh’s sold-out one-woman show is a love letter to her dad, simply staged and full of joy.
Julie played Coronation Street’s Hayley Cropper for 16 years and most recently appeared on our TV screens as patient Mrs Bates in Mr Bates vs The Post Office. She is always a fabulous actor to watch and this production is no exception, her famous warmth enveloping the audience.
Funny tales of Julie’s working class childhood in Accrington, Lancashire, summon up not just the pre-internet era but also her early dramatic leanings and big family characters.
That twinkle in her eye was clearly inherited from her father John Hesmondhalgh – pronounced Hesmondhalsh. He was a man who saw the beauty and daftness in life and filled his boots with both, despite the tragedies of his own early life. There were both family poetry competitions and farting competitions!
The title of the piece is taken from one of John’s poems listing his loves, but another, written when he was just 16, makes a bigger impression. It is a thoughtful manifesto, defining the qualities he hoped to have as a man, and which he appears to have fulfilled.
John’s writings are heard as recorded readings by pupils from Julie’s old primary school, while his face and brilliant blue eyes fill a screen which forms the backdrop throughout.
While Julie admits she is prone to mythologising, there is no doubt that the audience leaves sorry they never got to meet John Hesmondhalgh. Julie’s love for her father lights up the night.
Runs until 2 March 2024
