![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Kenny-Doughty-Brian-Liz-White-Kathy-and-Andrew-Macklin-Sean-in-Living.-Photo-by-Mark-Douet.-3Q9A5851.jpeg\")
From L to R: Kenny Doughty, Liz White and Andrew Macklin (Photo by Mark Douet)<\/p>\n\u201c\u2026theatrical magic\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
From L to R: Kenny Doughty, Liz White and Andrew Macklin (Photo by Mark Douet)<\/p>\n
Living by Leo Butler, Playhouse Sheffield<\/p>\n
By Phil Scown<\/strong><\/p>\n The set of Living is striking for two things.\u00a0Firstly, there\u2019s the floor-to-ceiling height.\u00a0 Secondly, everything is made of large sheets of unpainted builders\u2019 board made from chunks of wood arranged like an oversize random jigsaw, waiting for the picture to be painted on.\u00a0The walls, floor, sofa, sideboard and TV, are all made from the same builders\u2019 board.\u00a0It feels like a metaphor \u2013 for the random nature of life, living.\u00a0The set, though striking, does present a problem.\u00a0Some softening, maybe carpet and curtains, would be helpful, as all the wood cladding is not good for the acoustics.<\/p>\n Living starts with a broadcast of the moon landing, 21st July 1969. One small step for man, a giant leap for mankind.\u00a0The date is projected onto the set.\u00a0An elderly woman listens to the broadcast before shuffling off, leaving the house vacant.\u00a0The date shifts, and a young couple move in, Brian (Kenny Doughty) and Kathy (Liz White) his pregnant wife.\u00a0We\u2019re in Pitsmoor, Sheffield.<\/p>\n The life of Kathy and Brian is marked by more projected dates, dates linked to events going on in the wider world.\u00a0Some of these events are discussed, presented, on television, but not always.\u00a0On these dates though, the family is always living.\u00a0There are births, marriages and deaths.\u00a0The things that happen in families, to families.\u00a0 Living is fast-paced.\u00a0There is music that some of the audience will recognise as \u2018a blast from the past\u2019 \u2013 love it or loathe it.\u00a0The kids, Mike and Rebecca, love it, as do their friends, listening to it at volume as they dance around the house.\u00a0Brian starts as a socialist, mostly in theory, from his place on the dole, cashing his giro. He does get work, but retains his values in the face of the government and society\u2019s anti-union stance.\u00a0Kathy lives her socialism through her work as a nurse, putting in the shifts to keep the family afloat.\u00a0In writing this play, Leo Butler has managed to use very specific historical and family events to convey universal truths. Set in a specific part of Sheffield, it will hold true for almost anywhere in Great Britain \u2013 and the world beyond.<\/p>\n The family, Kathy and Brian, their children Rebecca (Abby Vicky-Russell) and Mike (Samuel Creasey) represent every working-class man and woman.\u00a0Despite their differences and arguments, they get along, for the most part.\u00a0Family friends, the wider family and tradespeople, are played by Harki Bhambra, Andrew Macklin, Melina Sinadinou, and Michelle Bonnard.\u00a0The skills of the actors, the director (Abigail Graham) and costume designer (Sarah Beaton) prevent this from confusing the audience.\u00a0In other plays, I have sometimes been confused by actors with two roles that are insufficiently differentiated.\u00a0I didn\u2019t get this at all in Living.\u00a0That is remarkable given the rapid pace of change required at some points in the action \u2013 a piece of theatrical mastery.\u00a0Full marks to the costume department for enabling the cast to make quick changes, thus allowing smooth transitions between dates and events.<\/p>\n Clever directing, and skilful acting, means that the audience\u2019s attention is shifted around conversations simultaneously taking place on stage.\u00a0There\u2019s a fade that makes the transition natural.\u00a0Lighting (Matt Haskins) shows us the dates, but also conveys moods and internal states of characters.\u00a0This really adds to our understanding of how the characters feel at key points.<\/p>\n The cast perform 30 roles between them, over 55 years.\u00a0 Kathy is central throughout, barely off-stage.\u00a0Her transformation from youthful mum-to-be into pensioner is an example of the mystery of theatre, a masterpiece of acting.\u00a0The children, Rebecca and Mike, shift from being parent-reliant toddlers to adults,\u00a0 also convincing, and adding comic moments.\u00a0<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t a mystery, with a crime to be solved within the play\u2019s plot. It is about what it is to be living, to have lived, in Britain, over the last half-century.\u00a0The external events, and nostalgic references, will mean little to a younger audience, except as stories and memories that their parents and grandparents share.\u00a0Events in the bigger world form a backdrop to life, the things that happened around families between 1969 and 2024.\u00a0Some events had obvious direct effects, but the family lives through them, doing what families do.\u00a0There are rivalries within families, but everyone loves each other despite these frictions.<\/p>\n The later years of act two are at a slower pace than act one \u2013 art imitating life.\u00a0Liz White\u2019s transformation playing Kathy is stunning to watch as the story comes full circle.\u00a0Even without the first three quarters of the play, the closing scenes are mesmerising.\u00a0This is a long play, but it doesn\u2019t seem so. Living shows the dynamic, colourful, nature of family.\u00a0It also puts it under a microscope, showing family life with details most of us can recognise, even if our families are different.\u00a0What we see is daily life turned into theatrical magic.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/xWeb_Photo_Editor-33.jpg.pagespeed.ic.4bgzKOiIjw.jpg\")
Cast of Living (Photo by Mark Douet)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/xLiz-White-Kathy-and-Kenny-Doughty-Brian-in-Living.-Photo-by-Mark-Douet.-3Q9A5454-edited-1-scaled.jp.jpeg\")
From L to R: Liz White and Kenny Doughty (Photo by Mark Douet)<\/p>\n