I Have Been Here Before, Norwich

JOHN LAWSON Hot on the heels of the mysterious policeman in An Inspector Calls comes a mysterious German mystic.

JOHN LAWSON

Hot on the heels of the mysterious policeman in An Inspector Calls comes a mysterious German mystic. Add to the mix another brooding Yorkshire location and eerie foreboding music.

All a little formulaic perhaps, but this rarely-performed example of JB Priestley's meanderings amid time and space (actually written nine years earlier in 1937) is no less entertaining for it.

And that's as much to do with some first rate performances, Marcus Robinson's atmospheric set and Clare Goddard's nicely-paced direction.

Pick of the performances are John Vesty's clairvoyant German and Sally Pratt's no-nonsense inn owner, both of whom are entirely believable amid the depths of a script which revels in its rich use of language but in which suspending your disbelief is the key to enjoyment.

Trevor Markworth and Jo Sessions also had their moments as the lovers far from in charge of their own destinies.

t I Have Been Here Before continues at the Maddermarket Theatre until Saturday November 2. Box office: 01603 620917.