All Of Us - Dorfman Theatre/National

I see the police in close proximity quite a lot. I'm very familiar with how they behave and operate. The dialogue and actions of playwright Francesca Martinez's police officers, as directed by Ian Rickson, are uncannily and horrifyingly accurate.

That is one detail in a script that is awash with hard-nosed reality. Thank goodness there is plenty of humour too, because the picture portrayed of a social care system, deliberately designed to fail, and an uncaring society, is bang on the money, and all the more depressing for that. I just fear that the people who need to hear this message are not among the Dorfman's clientele.

Don't be put off by the gloom; the play is full of heart, and its plea to celebrate who we are, however we are, and show a bit of empathy for one another, is uplifting, and, at times, deeply moving.

Martinez, also doing lead-acting duty as therapist Jess, is rarely off stage for a near three-hour running time that flies by. I don't know how much she is playing a character and how much a version of herself, but it's nonetheless an outstanding, tour-de-force performance. It speaks volumes that I forgot I was watching someone "wobbly" as she calls her cerebral palsy until the dialogue reminded me.

Jess's young neighbour Poppy -- brilliantly played by Francesca Mills -- provides an exuberant, in-your-face counterpoint, whizzing about the in-the-round (almost traverse) stage in her wheelchair, determined she's going to live life to the full.

There's strong support from the entire cast and faultless direction from Rickson. A must-see, it pulls off the feat of entertaining while simultaneously leaving you seething at injustice.

Four stars.

Act 1: 19:32-20:51
Act 2: 21:09-22:25
Another bête noire of mine: the 15-minute interval. So stressful rushing to get a drink and use the gents in time. Must be even worse for women.

This does get quite intense at times and I did consider leaving during the long opening scene of the second act (don’t want to spoilt what it is. My friend’s watch even warned him his blood pressure had gone up too quickly during that scene. Also, I didn’t like the ending. Apart from that, I think the play was great, it’s the good kind of mix between the crude reality of modern life and the poetic and comforting shared experience of quality theatre.

I made a late decision to see this yesterday and thought it was an excellent play. The second half was stronger than the first half. This documented problems with how disabled people are supported in our society which I'm already very aware of, but still managed to present this from balanced and nuanced viewpoints.

This also turned out to be the filmed performance, so I may end up being conspicuous in the front row (albeit avoiding the urge to check my phone several times like the woman a few seats down). Hopefully the many cameras positioned around the building managed to find a way to focus on the talented actors on stage instead.

To me, this the type of play which has its power in a live performance, so I don't know how well it will translate to the screen, but as the director said at the start, it is very good that this has been captured and will be available to a wider audience. It is certainly the kind of filmed production that could be shown in schools and lead to further discussion.