ONE hour and 45 minutes of wordy drama with no interval is a tough ask for a Tyneside audience, particularly those gripped by stinking colds and no handkerchief. But director Stephen Daldry's remarkable adaptation of J B Priestley's work pervades like the smoke which drifts steadily from stage to auditorium.

Wrapped within a set, costumes and action depicting the wartime blitz to come, the turn of the last century plot centres on the famous story of the well-heeled Birling family, torn apart by revelations of cruelty and selfishness which have driven a young woman to suicide. Cleverly, Inspector Gooole (a stern-looking Nicholas Day) never enters the lofty Wendy House proportioned world of the Birlings, but prowls the area beneath which doubles as street and reception area. David Roper and Sandra Duncan are old hands at playing pricked pompous pride as Arthur and Sybil Birling. The biggest transformations involve Katie McGuinness as daughter Sheila, the IT girl who learns some home truths, and Mark Healy as her fiance Gerald Croft, who vacillates between ruthless indifference and self-disgust. Nick Barber as tormented son Eric Birling is saddled with "stupid boy" syndrome throughout.

As the family's glittering prospects come crashing down, quite literally, there are some unkind titters as the cast struggles to move around the debris-strewn set. What makes it all so chillingly realistic is the mime show, led by Elizabeth Ross as family servant Edna, of adults and children representing the society that will ultimately pass judgement on the Birlings of this world.

Runs until Saturday. Box Office: 0870 145 1200 .

Published: 10/03/2005