★★★★★ Reviewer: Steven Ireland There’s something very enjoyable about watching a new show produced by a fledgling company. Often, you can feel the sense of people pulling together behind a project they believe in, putting their all into getting the thing out there for people to see. Downstairs in The Bay Horse is an unconventional theatre space but for me this lent a sense of accessibility and informality. I’d be happy to see more plays here. Life’s Witness is From The Mill Theatre’s first show and focuses on the character of spy novel writer Nathan, played by Luke Helly. Early career success could not be sustained, but with a bright new idea his latest novel has brought him back from the wilderness, and he has agreed to a live, televised interview in which to bask in some congratulations. However, all is not as it seems, both in the nature of the interview, and in the story behind Nathan’s new novel. It would be easy to over-play the central character, but Helly’s performance avoids histrionics in favour of casting Nathan as a flawed victim of an unforgiving industry and the false expectations brought by instant success. Similarly, John Mulholland as Nathan’s partner and writing protégé Lee is sympathetic but has enough of his own attitude and ambition to keep Nathan from simply being the villain of the piece. The show’s producer, Jennifer Campbell, and its writer, Thomas Hodson, play Nathan’s publisher and the interviewer respectively; but this is far from a case of a small company dragging in non-acting members to help out. Hodson moves deftly between a fawning Melvyn Bragg and an interrogatory Jeremy Paxman. Campbell is every inch the ruthless industry professional, callously dismissing Nathan one moment, yet prepared to defend him (and her percentage) with all the resources at her disposal when he has a winning book. Director Onur Orkut allows things to build nicely, as flashback scenes that begin as separate entities start to merge into the interview as the guilt and failure from Nathan’s past close in on him under the questioning of the present. When the crescendo came, and Nathan finally lost his cool with his tormentor, the moment felt a little bit crowded – probably contributed to by the lack of any real backstage area. It was a privilege to attend this preview. If you plan to attend the Page to Stage Festival in Liverpool next week you could do a lot worse than seek this out. I look forward to seeing what From the Mill produce next. Life’s Witness is currently on tour in the north west. For dates and information, click here.