When the Rain Stops Falling at the Unity

There's some big shows opening in the city this week, but a new production at the Unity starting tonight and running until Saturday will be well worth a look. When the Rain Stops Falling by Andrew Bovell, one of the writers of Strictly Ballroom, is described as an epic play spanning eight decades, four generations and two hemispheres. From the stifling heat of Alice Springs to the cold damp of London’s streets, from 1959 to 2039, from the extraordinary summit of Uluru to the ordinariness of a grimy London flat, it tells the story of Gabriel Law, retracing the paths of his ancestors on a journey to piece together the jigsaw puzzle of his own identity. The cast includes Ruth Alexander Rubin, known for her 2008 role in Corrie; Simon Hedger (pictured above), one of the brains behind the Liverpool Shakespeare Festival; and the lovely Liam Tobin, last seen at the Unity in Spike Theatre's The Games. When the Rain Stops Falling is the second production from said&done, who premiered with Neil LaBute's bash: latter day plays at the Unity last June. The young company aims to create powerful theatre exploring challenging themes in contemporary plays, as well as providing sustainable employment for both established and emerging professionals on and off stage and developing new audiences within the North West. For tickets and more information, visit the Unity's site.