This fascinating play was written in 1911 and shocked and appalled audiences at the time. Although it shines a light on the progress women have made in society it also highlights just how little has changed between the sexes. It is perhaps even funnier now in some places, as at first we laugh at the quaintness and finally, from shocked recognition.

To explain the plot briefly; the town of Hindle in Lancashire is dependent on several cotton mills and weaving sheds as most people either own them or work in them. Those who own them often used to work in them and worked their way up without education but with a lot of hard work and good business sense. So is the case with Nathaniel Jeffcote and Sir Timothy Farrar, with a son and a daughter respectively, who are engaged to one another. Thus the two empires are ensured of becoming a united, even stronger one.

At the start, we come to realise that everyone in town has been on 'wakes'; an enforced holiday while the mills shut down. Mr and Mrs Hawthorn are pacing the floor waiting for their daughter, Fanny, to return from her holiday in Blackpool but we are soon aware that for some reason we are ignorant of, they do not think she has actually been in Blackpool. We also learn more about 'Nat' Jeffcote and his son Alan who is expected back from his holiday in his motorcar in Llandudno. When Fanny finally arrives, she sticks to her story of being in Blackpool with her friend Mary. That is until her parents tell her that Mary drowned in a boating accident the previous day and Fanny's father went to Blackpool to help bring back the body but there was of course no sign of Fanny. In the course of her interrogation she refuses to name the 'chap' she was with but does let slip that she was in Llandudno. One and one is added up to make two and her father goes to see his old friend Nat to insist Alan marry Fanny as he has soiled her for any future man. However, Fanny does not wish to marry Alan, which is what must have shocked the original audiences. Her mother threatens to throw her out but Fanny believes she can strike out on her own as she is a skilled worker in a busy industry and doesn't require any favours from any man.

My ONE problem with the script is at this point, when no one says – 'what if you are pregnant?!' The night I saw it the audience fully enjoyed the humour of seeing the arguments from our modern perspective. In fact some of the humour seemed almost to be purposely tongue in cheek as if the author himself knew even in 1912, that what some of his characters (usually the men!) were saying, was quite ridiculous. There were even gasps when we discovered that Alan was in fact engaged to be married to Beatrice and yet had gone away with Fanny and that is a sign that the audience is invested in the characters.

So ... down to the production rather than the rather brilliant and only recently discovered, but not in the least out-dated play directed by Ian Hoare. In the pivotal role of Fanny, Nassima Bouchenak was lovely looking although she moved, stood and sat in a very modern manner. Even working women would have worn a light corset but there was no hint of one. Fanny is a modern girl (for 1912) of course, but she would still be a woman of her time however much she is trying to move forward. She was certainly feisty and flirty with a level head and a quick mind but I felt she could have brought a little more vocal strength and variety to the role.

Fanny is very much her mother's daughter in many ways but Julie Arrowsmith as Mrs Hawthorn could have blown her across the room with just a look. She was strong and grounded, fully living up to the descriptions of her by others and suitably ruling her husband.

One note; Ms Arrowsmith and Martin Coplan-Gray were the first on-stage but with the heavy Lancashire accents and many words a modern London-centric audience were not familiar with, it took some time to 'tune-in' to the dialect. On the first night, it may have been nerves that caused them to be speaking so fast, but my colleague and I did have difficulty for the first five to ten minutes. We felt we had missed some of the plot because of this and it took awhile to catch up. This is often a problem with 'dialect' or 'accent' plays and needs to be considered when doing such shows.

Martin Coplan-Gray as Mr Hawthorn pulled every snippet of humour and poignancy that he could out of his role. He was very watchable and I quickly got the sense that here was a man who knew his own limitations doing the best he could to have a quiet life despite everything it threw at him. Jonathon Cooper as Alan was appropriately good looking, charming and quite without morals or common sense. I certainly worried for the almost saintly Beatrice, played beautifully and calmly by Helena Franklin, if she did take him back because he would probably never be completely faithful. John McSpadyen brought the right combination of bluster and dismay to the role of Sir Timothy Farrar, another self-made, ex-mill worker. Robynne Batley who was also Assistant Director, played Ada, the Jeffcote's maid. It is a very small role to which she brought humour and substance by always looking worried and just a little frightened. Alexander Grant pulled the humour out of his role as Nathaniel Jeffcote but I felt he sometimes played only the surface level of the emotions, feeling what the words said but not what made him say it. This is a role with much of the stage time and I saw little inner turmoil but a lot of bluster. The quiet scenes with his wife however, were full of quiet humour and tenderness and they allowed you to see the charm and wit of this self-made man.

The highlight for me though, was Sasha Walker's performance as Mrs Jeffcote. Her relationship with her husband was full of love and humour and patience. I fully believed that she had worked in the mill and helped her husband work his way into the owner's office and was determined to keep her son and his sons there. She never raised her voice but was still heard. Her quiet admiration of Fanny for not being the gold digger she originally suspected her of being, but a modern woman fighting for independence and freedom, was genuine and moving. I knew if Fanny did find herself in difficulties, she really could go to this Mrs Jeffcote as offered. In other hands – including a different director - this role could have been just a whining little 'wifey', but Ms Walker's calm knowing smile, straight back and quiet, level voice provided a strength and edge to her that became, for me, the heart of the piece.

And therein for me I suppose is the slight problem with this production. While I enjoyed it immensely it is Fanny who should be the heart in the play. However in this production, for me, it became Mrs Jeffcote. Costumes by Fiona Lockton had a strong sense of both the era and the class divide but I found it odd that Fanny arrived at the Jeffcote's house in a shawl rather than the cape we'd originally seen her arrive home in. I can only think the director and designer felt that Fanny was making a point to look as lowly as possible but I couldn't see her mother allowing it as she herself was wearing another cape. Both women should also have been wearing a hat to visit their employer and visiting ladies would not leave their hat at the door as men would do. The set by Michael Bettell was marvellous in such a tight space, especially what the programme tells me was the breakfast room of the Jeffcote's home. The choice of furniture was perfect with the differences between the two homes fully realised. I especially appreciated that heavy flats were not considered necessary and he worked with what he had. I did though feel the first scene change was a bit clunky, especially as this set was never seen again and thought it could have been pared back slightly to make the change quicker. I felt it was a shame as well, that something could not have been arranged to make entrances and exits a little less awkward with people fighting their way through curtains and the occasional hand of a Stage Manager showing through to close it. Sound by Rob Ellis and lighting by Nick Insley served the production well especially the storm at the beginning. The sounds of machinery and working mills really added to how the mills ran these people's lives. All in all, and finicky critiques aside, I enjoyed the production on the night a great deal. Well done to director Ian Hoare for finding such a lost treasure and to the strong cast and crew.