'It doesn't work, you know, pretending that nothing very serious is happening. Because it is happening. And it is serious.'

Liverpool, 1946. A year after the sudden death of their father, sisters Gertie, May and Rita Lasky share their once grand home on Hope Street with their asthmatic brother Arnold, Auntie Beil (who still keeps her packed suitcase under the spare bed) and old family friend Dr Nate Weinberg (who claims, hand on heart, to be on the wagon).

As the sisters regularly welcome Gls and pilots from the nearby American base, each continues her own search for meaning amidst the shattered remains of their city, in a rapidly changing world.

eatre

■Combining warmth, poignancy and humour, this inventive reimagining of Chekhov's famous play is the pro…