Conor Mitchell's bold new musical is not about war or affairs of state; its characters are neither soldiers nor dictators nor singing cowboys nor skittish nuns.
It is a simple story of ordinary Northern Ireland people, whose experiences, sense of humour and salty language chime with most members of the audience.
It takes guts and ingenuity to create a full-length musical out of a single night in the community of a small, run-down Northern town, but Mitchell possesses both qualities in abundance. Book, music and lyrics are entirely credited to him, but it is the energy and vision of director Rachel O'Riordan which gives cohesion to this tight-knit ensemble piece.
It is not all plain sailing, however. The first act, for all its musical and lyrical cleverness and fine performances, takes rather a long time and a few dips, and starts to accomplish relatively little in narrative terms.
But after the interval, story, pace and mood are cranked up and a series of touching personal tragedies are subtly knitted together to put the true spirit of Christmas into stark perspective.
Ian McElhinney is in cracking form as the cog in the wheel of the story.
Comfortable and utterly relaxed on the Lyric stage - after a 15-year absence - he plays Mervin Ford, the curmudgeonly owner of a dingy off-licence, the last occupied building in a condemned street.
Watched over by a photograph of his late wife Betty, Mervin laments the loss of days when kids knew their manners, neighbours cared for each other and customers came to his shop in search of a good bottle of Chardonnay.
It takes a shattering announcement by his mouthy daughter Kelly (Rachel Tucker) and her chancer of a boyfriend Dessie (Colm Gormley), the heartbreaking confession of her friend Soup (Mark Dugdale) and the unexpected arrival of Petunia McWilliams, a tragedy-tinged figure from the past, to spark Mervin into standing his ground and taking a long hard look at his life.
From diffident beginnings, this new-style Christmas show has the essence of something which could run and run. - Jane Coyle
Runs until Jan 7
