Shameless star Tina Malone directs and stars in Kerry Williams story of the the trials and tribulations of a Liverpool family.
The kitchen of this packed house is the main setting for a series of family congregations where mother Dean cooks homely meals for her children, grown up, but all still living at home.
The main plot centres on the health of daughter Jess (Sarah Donovan), who is awaiting a heart transplant.
It is a subject close to Williams' heart, if you pardon the pun, having watched her sister-in-law go through a similar process.
Jess' siblings are a collection of Scouse stereotypes. There is the cabbie brother Jimmy (Ste Dwyer) whose tails of backseat drama never fail to shock.
There's the tantastic, blonde, self obsessed, and utterly clueless Hannah played to perfection by Helen Webster.
The family is completed by the drug selling, scally brother Chris and Joseph, played by ex-Dream Team regular James William Watts, whose super happy, super camp nature lends an extra pleasantness to proceedings.
Their is plenty to admire in this play. The kitchen table banter which so many can identify with combines with that unique Scouse humour making it an entertaining and funny watch.
There's plenty of classic family situations illustrated by Hannah bringing her footballer boyfriend home for tea and a suitable dressing down by the brothers Dean.
But theres a sense of repetition as the first acts drags on unnecessarily for an hour and a half.
The second act, set in the hospital waiting room as the family await news of Jess' successful transplant, is only half an hour with bafflingly short scenes.
The play could easily have been cut in half. This would perhaps have benefitted Malone who obviously had difficulty coping with her dual role as director and star, fudging her lines more than once during the proceedings.
But otherwise she nails the role of family matriarch in this heart warming reminder that you can choose your friends but you can't choose your family and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
7/10
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