John Godber’s play could carry the subtitle a Life More Ordinary.

The everyday story of a Yorkshire working class couple’s annual holiday week in Blackpool during which little happens (it rains) would appear to be a tough watch, but what the play lacks in spectacle and action, it more than matches in emotional import and good old earthy humour.

It is ultimately about the overarching power of love.

Husband Jack is a man whose finer emotions lie as deep as the coal he mines and whose job is killing him, physically and spiritually.

His stock response to most problems is to threaten those around him with ‘a oncer’ and yet he lacks the physical courage to go up t’Tower or even paddle in t’sea.

But we also see a man of buried refinements: there is a wonderful scene where he is moved to tears while watching a production of The Student Prince. For him life is ‘if only’.

Wife Liz is the caged songbird being slowly suffocated by her husband’s toxic negativity and lack of tenderness, yet whose joie d’vivre cannot easily be suppressed. She too has dreams that she heroically sacrifices for the love of a man.

The performances from both actors are very strong. Rod Moor-Bardell as the tragic-comic Jack captures his bruised vulnerability beautifully. The ever-excellent Tina Duffin turns in a bravura performance as a spirited woman who refuses to be broken by the weight of ill circumstance. She sings beautifully too.

A couple of critic’s gripes: Godber writes antagonism well but there are times when the constant coarse sparring becomes wearing.

And the production is set in a black box (a visual metaphor? ) with few props, which generally works fine but the stage is ill lit for much of the time.

Those minor ails aside, this is a credit to the cast and crew and to able young director Abigail Newton.