Backstage shows rarely fail so it was clever to set the show in this environment complete with ropes, costumes, fire extinguisher and other backstage paraphernalia ….. Paul Milton skillfully managed to weave a coherent story line, taking us through the half-hour before the curtain goes up on a show and the opening sequence after it does.

“…is a beautifully staged show. The set is like a circus ring with ropes, drapes, ladders and trapezes. It is these that enable Hetty to experience her young world, to climb trees and ride horses when she is fostered out to a farm before being returned, at the age of six, to a life behind locked doors…”

It would have made a great silent movie – a cross between The Gold Rush and Nosferatu. A story so...