Crossroad Blues, The Stage

The Mississippi Delta surrounds Old Man River and spawns the folk myth that clings round the flat greenness.   In the middle of England the Great Ouse dominates the fens with their wide landscape and huge skies.

Both provide a springboard for the imagination, and that is the starting point for this fascinating play by James Volmar at the Sir John Mills Theatre. Billed as a funny kind of love story, this is just that - lots of love, and very funny.

The five-strong cast feels like a lot more, making a vigorous job of illuminating the scene with strong people.   Nick's American Diner is at the crossroads where the old gallows stands.   Nick is played by Michael Palmer, and he is fighting a losing battle with his own lackadaisical nature to keep his living.

To the diner come all manner of passers-by.  Katrina Beckford, as Ellen from New Orleans, is seeking a history, and she finds it for close at hand is the former American airbase where her long-dead dad was once stationed.

Anthony Beselle makes him an insubstantial ghost, full of love and care for his daughter.   But Beselle also plays a young premier league football star - an athletic, powerful transformation.  Nick's ex-wife turns up at the diner when her car breaks down, and Sarah Ingram gives her a splendid bad temper.

A regular visitor is Larry the taxi driver, a superbly laconic Jon McKenna.   A country music freak with a complete set of Johnny Cash albums, he gives some nearly times hilarious lines and a superbly off the wall philosophy.

Weaving these remarkable people into their story is accomplished with finesse by director Ivan Cutting, abetted by a magnetic cast and an engaging continuous music theme, which allows for a magical duet between a class choral soprano and a haunting gospel line.

Carol Carver, The Stage