Mark Addy stars in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry in Chichester | Review

In a nutshell, a man chooses to walk the length of the country to visit a dying friend.

Fairly thin, you think?

Let me give you a resounding “no” to that.

Joyce’s text transfers beautifully to the stage and with an up-to-the-minute vocal score from Passenger, the show itself is brilliant.

Add to that some astonishingly good direction and choreography (Katy Rudd and Tom Jackson Greaves, respectively), a glorious interpretation of the score from Chris Poon’s band and a cast who, to a man, pay beautiful homage to intention, text, score and story and you’re onto a winner.

Mark Addy’s Harold is a wonderfully-crafted thing and, as his wife, Maureen, Jenna Russell gives us the most sublimely complex, simple woman. Both performances are layered, detailed, fascinating and a joy to behold. The two work together seamlessly demonstrating the fractured relationship of the couple and its coming-back-together. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

None of the cast falter, but truly astonishing work comes from Jack Wolfe as The Balladeer. He wanders the stage; he comments; he illustrates; he leads, Dionysus-like, the rest of the ensemble and his vocals eat their way into your soul. He also shines when playing David, son to Harold and Maureen.

Amy Booth-Steel playing various well-differentiated characters – but particularly the vulnerable Queenie – shows her mastery of her craft. Leaping between characters, from scene-to-scene, I often wondered if I were watching the same actor. I was. And she’s good.

Madeleine Worrall’s very sweary Eastern European woman also warms the heart.

And Sharon Rose as Garage Girl has a voice to die for.

It’s beautiful, it’s life-affirming, it shows we can make mistakes, big mistakes, and still be worthy of forgiveness and redemption and, frankly, I hope it goes far.

A must-see, if ever there was one.