Dream On

There's something remarkable about the low-budget work of North Shields' Amber Collective. Seacoal was politically sharp Loachian realism; In Fading Light saw a growth in confident technique and a flair for the epic; here, they move still further from the documentary naturalism of their beginnings, with an engaging, coherent, continually surprising blend of realism and fantasy, witty comedy and serious social comment. It depicts the problems faced by three women (alcoholism, anorexia, abuse and battering) with honesty, depth of feeling and an unexpected touch of magic. As ever, the performances are highly convincing (even the men - however stupid or nasty - are never reduced to stereotypes), the politics are spot-on, and the finale, firmly rooted in the gritty reality of a celebration dance after the women's darts-night, is wholly moving.