The programme for a show never decides my opinion of a show. Rarely does it leave any impression beyond being a useful source for looking up cast and crew information, which can almost as easily be found online. The programme for My Country; a work in progress is unlike others, full of statistics, timelines, infographics, quotes and condensed histories. Presented more like a non-partisan political pamphlet than the typical, jolly, photo-focused programme, it’s something I might keep.

Now, the fact that the My Country production comes with what is effectively a diverting stocking filler is not why I like the show, but it set the tone. I had not looked up for reviews for the production beforehand, and I worried it’d be a dry, impersonal hour or so, either overtly polemic or frustratingly obtuse. It is neither.

The action, taking place over eighty-five minutes, follows an imagined meeting of Brittania (Penny Layden) and the embodiments of six areas surveyed in the days around Brexit last year. See, it could be dry, right? Or frustrating?

What followed the opening amusing about-turn of a po-faced Brittania popping on a huge headdress and her favourite jams was emotive without being mawkish, exhaustive without being exhaustive, and consistently (surprisingly) comical. It deftly handled showing what we all know to be true really: that the personal is the political, and vice versa.

That many or most of the words in the play come right from interviewees’ mouths – from our mouths – is the only way it can bear the effect that it does. Those who held the power over the vote, the voices of political leaders, of friends, of family members, of people we love and disagree with, or loathe and stand beside, also hold the power here. The other words come from the magnificent Carol Ann Duffy.

Finally, I should note that the cast is beyond good. They transform themselves constantly on stage. A couple of the political impressions are less clear, though maybe that speaks more to those leaders than Penny Layden’s talent, and some impressions of the public could also use a little sharpening, though these are minor quibbles.  ★★★★★    Will Amott   17th May 2017