Read our review as Will Young stars in Song From Far Away, currently playing in Manchester.

It has been a busy week in theatreland for me, as I watched my fourth play of the week on Saturday.

We are lucky here in Greater Manchester as we have got a large variety of venues to chose from, with something to suit all tastes.

The latest offering at Home theatre, which is a modern build just under the arches across from the old Hacienda nightclub in Manchester city centre, is Song From Far Away, starring Will Young in a one-man play.

The story is centred on Willem, who is dealt a life-changing blow to his seemingly upbeat nomadic lifestyle.

Willem is going about his everyday business in New York when he receives a phone call telling him he must return home to Amsterdam as his brother has passed away.

Willem is estranged from his family in the Netherlands, so in order to make sense of his journey and his encounter with his parents and sister, he decides to write all his feelings and events down in letters to his departed brother, Pauli.

As he reflects on his life, unwilling to face the future, he finds himself reaching out to the brother he has lost.

We discover that Willem is the complete opposite of Pauli, whereas Willem went out into the world to make his fortune as a New York banker, Pauli stayed behind with his family. It was a case of the prodigal son returning as Willem is half-heartedly welcomed back into the fold after years away.

Will Young is superb as Willem as he negotiates the mundane qualities of his old life. 

He is reflective and has good comedy timing as he sarcastically finds fault and belittles those around him.

Willem prefers to stay in bland hotel rooms rather than return to his parents’ home, much to the annoyance of his father. In fact, his life seems to shift from one faceless building to the next - hotel rooms, cafés, airport lounges etc.

This isn’t a play about sentimentality, but rather the everyday occurrences of life and death and how we meander our way through them.

Willem, who comes across as shallow and insensitive, doesn’t seem upset by the loss of his brother, rather he is angry of what he has lost.

There does seem to be some quiet moments of reflection from Willem though, as he slips from his harsh American accent into the lilting tones of a few melodic tunes - and if anyone can pull off the lullaby softness of the songs it is Will Young.

This poignant and thought-provoking play, by Olivier Award winner Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) and Mark Eitzel quietly envelopes the senses with its atmospheric setting of a hotel room, with swishing curtains and lowering of the ceiling to depict the mood of the performance.

Snow even billows down at one point with the icy cold weather reflecting Willem’s cold heart.

Song From Far Away runs for one hour and 20 minutes with no interval, but at no point during the performance did you feel like it needed a break. 

The audience were silent throughout and hung on Willem’s every word. Outstanding.

Song From Far Away is on until 11 March.