Once in a House on Fire

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Andrea Ashworth’s memoir about her traumatic childhood in Manchester, Once in a House on Fire, became a best-seller on publication in 1998. This dramatisation by Monkeywood Theatre’s Sarah McDonald Hughes—who once lived on the same Moss Side street as Ashworth—attempts to turn this decade-spanning tale into an hour-long show.

On the whole it succeeds. McDonald Hughes plays Andrea, who, as the eldest daughter in the family, learns early that it is she who must hold them together. With a mother increasingly reliant on a succession of abusive husbands, too weak to break the cycle—“I’ve lost the knack of being my own person”—it’s left to Andrea and younger sister Laurie to muddle through childhood.

Infused with the energy and imagination of youth, this tale is vibrantly told. A thumping soundtrack of late 70s and 80s pop tunes denotes scene changes and sets the era, while references to the Yorkshire Ripper and the teenage excitement of visiting Yates’ Wine Bar place the piece firmly in its time period.

It’s well acted, too, by the cast of three. But the play has so much to cram into one hour that at times it feels rushed. The family’s brief emigration to Canada is so sparsely treated that, in the following scene, it takes a while to realise they are back in Manchester. And though poignant, some emotional punch is lost by dealing in such broad brush strokes. This production has plenty going for it, but a longer running time would allow some necessary space for the story to breathe.