Whatever Happened to Phoebe Salt – New Vic Theatre

Whatever Happened to Phoebe Salt – New Vic Theatre

Written by Arthur Berry – Directed by Abbey Wright

Photographs courtesy of Andrew Billington

When you walk into the new Vic and see the ‘in the round’ stage set, feel the atmosphere, you always know that you are in for a good night!  To add to the usual New Vic vibes, this play ‘Whatever Happened to Phoebe Salt’ is set in Stoke-on-Trent in the 1950’s …..  2025 is Stoke on Trent’s 100^th Anniversary Year ….. the play is by local Playwright Arthur Berry – his last play in fact ….. and Arthur Berry would have been 100 years old this year.  There are so many elements that make this play a very, very special one!!

That is even before you look at the cast – many of whom are local people, some making their theatre debut – with a few New Vic regulars thrown in for good measure.  Every single character was brought to life by a wonderful group of actors all working together to make this story real – something for everyone to relate to.  A special mention for the title character ‘Phoebe Salt’, played tremendously by Isabella Rossi who you will find it hard to believe, is making her professional stage debut in this play!

This play certainly did not disappoint with it’s Stokiness!! Local words like ‘Conna’ … ‘her’ instead of ‘she’ … duck, of course ….  and that Stokie twang that we all recognise wherever we are in the world! Even a hint of that Potteries dialect is impossible to miss – and all of us locals have it to different extents! Hats off to Vocal Coach Caroline Hetherington for picking up and passing on those ‘Stokie intonations’ to the cast!

We get a look at a local family back in the 1950’s and the trials and tribulations of daily life, with various recognisable local characters and some secrets that come back to haunt the next generation.  There are laughs, there are tears, and maybe not the ending we all want – but that is certainly ‘life’ isn’t it.

As always, the ‘off stage teams’ attention to detail doesn’t go unnoticed with costumes that were ‘just right’ and brought back memories of grandparents, fantastic props, great lighting, and the silences were as important and mood provoking as the sound.  All just right – and we expect nothing less of course!!

I was very fortunate to chat to Laura Costello and Andrew Pollard last week – they were both so passionate about the play – and I wouldn’t have recognised either of them!! The glamorous, well spoken Laura was so believable as the demoralised, oppressed and very local Nellie Salt, and what happened to the lovely Andrew I don’t know – he had completely transformed into the slightly goofy, comedic Cyril Pepper!

What a delightful evening of nostalgia with a feeling of connection to the play as a whole – it is a wonderful tribute to the area and a charming endorsement of the memory of Arthur Berry in his 100^th year.  A must-see production for Stokies everywhere!

FIVE lovely local STARS for ‘Whatever Happened to Phoebe Salt’ – tickets and more information from newvictheatre.org.uk – 31st May to Saturday 21st June

Here is the interview with Jane from The Hitmix and Laura Costello ‘Nellie Salt’ and Andrew Pollard ‘Cyril Pepper’