Directed by Suffolk-born Douglas Rintoul, the much-praised adaptation of David Lean's iconic 1945 movie Brief Encounter, by award-winning theatre-maker Emma Rice, has opened at Ipswich's New Wolsey Theatre.

The film was based on Noël Coward's one-act play, Still Life, and is considered by many to be the greatest love story of all time.

In the bar, arrivals enjoyed pre-show drinks whilst being treated to jaunty popular music. Suitably dressed in period cinema usher uniforms, four of the actor-musicians enthusiastically engaged onlookers with a tuneful evocation of the period. 

In a nice touch to engage the audience with the central characters' lives from the very beginning, Laura (Hanora Kamen) and Alec (Jammy Kasongo) rise from seats in the auditorium to make their way onstage, whilst holding an animated conversation. 

Enthusiasts of the film will know the story of the ensuing drama. It commences in the prosaic surroundings of a railway station buffet, then moves onto a smart restaurant, a cinema, rowing on a river, and other locations where the hero and heroine meet for their clandestine assignations.

A drama which captures the timid yet passionate love affair involving a respectable but repressed suburban housewife who struggles with yielding to the passions of a married doctor. All at a time when exposure of such an affair carried the threat of social disgrace for both parties.    

Coward could be said to have introduced more social comment by introducing romances at different levels. In comparison to the married middle-class Laura and Alec, the unmarrieds working at the station are having a much less inhibited time of it. 

The suggestive antics of the station ticket collector Albert (Samuel Morgan-Grahame) and the buffet manageress Myrtle (Nicola Bryan) seem positively bawdy. Even the young waitress Beryl (Lucy Elizabeth Thorburn) and the porter Stanley (Luke Thornton) enjoy a comically flirtatious relationship. As in many Shakespearian comedies, love is all around. 

Seemingly oblivious to how his wife is carrying on, Laura's dull but kindly husband Fred (Tom Self) unknowingly looks after their children and grapples with The Times crosswords. Despite Laura's indiscretions, on the surface, theirs is a completely comfortable family unit.

This is different to the position about Alec's professional and marital statuses because the play (and film) reveals no evidence about either side of him. One could feel that he may just be a cad or lounge lizard preying on vulnerable women with his charm and flattery. It will probably never be known if Coward intended some ambiguity about him. Therefore, it is up to everybody to make up their own minds.

Throughout the performance, Chioma Uma is delightful in her musical and acting roles, none more so than as Dolly, the talkative friend of Laura. Her incessant chattering imbued additional pathos to the drama's affecting dénouement. 

Indeed, as with many NWT productions, the performers are blessed with the multiple talents of acting, dancing, singing and musicianship. Particularly interesting is the Director bringing them together as a 'Greek Chorus': the lovers being watched from the side by the Chorus, where they react in a light-hearted and amusing way to underscore the central characters' unfolding tragedy.

Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 2 was an omnipresent feature of the film, so thank goodness we hear snatches of its dramatic opening bars and soaring main theme with the Chorus vocalising the orchestra's string section. Naturally, Coward's songs are well featured, with Thorburn (as Beryl) giving an impassioned rendition of Mad About the Boy. Additional music is composed by Tom Self.

The handout listing everybody involved in the show makes one realise how many personnel are needed to mount such an inventive production. In addition to the cast of eight, there are 24 'Creatives' and production team members. 

With such an array of talented individuals coming together to mount this all-round triumph, it seems invidious to make special mention of certain people and their work at the expense of others. 

However, for the most visible and audible on-stage aspects, special mention should be given to Jessie Addinall (Lighting Designer), James Cook (Sound Designer), Jess Curtis (Set and Costume Designer), Alexzandra Sarmiento (Choreographer) and Tom Self (Musical Director, Orchestrator and Additional Music Composer). 

And, finally, an extra special mention to the show's multi-award-winning Director Douglas Rintoul who is also the theatre's Chief Executive and Artistic Director.  

Brief Encounter is at the New Wolsey Theatre until Saturday 13 May.

www.wolseytheatre.co.uk  Box Office 01473 295900. email: [email protected]