Port-posterJust over 10 years since making its debut at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, Port has a new run at the National Theatre. The story looks at the life of a young girl named Rachael Keats (Kate O’Flynn) , who is growing up in a town that she hates. Her mother (Liz White) has abandoned her, her beloved Granddad dies only months after her mum leaves, and she is left to look after her younger brother (Mike Noble) and her temperamental father (Jack Deam). We see Rachael over 14 years in her life, and how she deals growing up in working class Stockport.

Port takes you on an emotionally draining journey, but in a good way. It is brutally honest, and leaves out none of the nitty gritty. Rachael has been very down on her luck from aged 11 when she is abandoned all the way to her adult years. Despite all this, she keeps a brave face, and when she breaks she dusts herself off and goes on. In the first half of the show there is still something to light to it, but you know that after the interval it is going to go well for her. The first act of the show tells a fresh story; when you come back it starts to go down a clichéd route. Rachael is now married, played by her onstage dad, and she cries out something along the lines of “You’re just like my dad”. You know it is coming of course (I do not think Deam was playing the role of her dad and husband to save on budgets), but it is a story we have all seen and you can tell how it is going to play out.

Despite its clichéd plot, it is a wonderfully acted show. With a plot so driven by one particular character, you are expecting a member of the supporting cast to take the attention away, but O’Flynn truly steals the show. Her ability to transform from an 11-year-old girl to a 24-year-old desperately trying to move on with her life, is absolutely captivating. Noble, who plays Rachael’s younger brother Billy, has an even tougher job of portraying a six-year-old on stage, and he foes a great job.

All together the show is amazingly put together. The cast dynamic is great and a shout out needs to go out to director Marianne Elliott who has made sure of this. But one of the standout qualities of the show is the design. Lizzie Clachan has managed to pay attention to every single detail, even having the old Fanta cans in the hospital canteen fridge.

Port might be a show about a very specific area of the country, but the storyline is universal which makes you forget about the little clichés it has. It is brutally honest and wonderfully brash, and will make you truly be grateful for everything you have got. It is truly something else and it can’t be missed.

Port is playing at the National Theatre till 24 March. Visit the  National Theatre’s website  for more info.