Living review – family saga races through six decades of life in Sheffield

Playhouse, Sheffield
Characters are shaped by the shifting sands of modern history, from the moon landing to the pandemic, in Leo Butler’s new drama

There is a bit they like to do in pantomimes when an audience member appears to have arrived late. To get them up to speed, there is a high-velocity replay of the opening 10 minutes. Leo Butler’s family saga creates something of the same effect – except instead of bringing us up to date on a couple of scenes, it races, boldly and exhaustively, through the last six decades.

We get 1969 and Neil Armstrong; 1971 and decimalisation; 1974 and the Wombles; 1979 and Margaret Thatcher; 1984 and Orgreave – right up to 2020 and Covid, followed by the Barbie movie and Ukraine.