In 1949 Helene Hanff, an American writer living in Manhattan, began ordering books from a London booksellers based at 84 Charing Cross Road. Knowing only that the company specialized in out-of-print books, she sent a list of second hand books she was unable to acquire cheaply and in good condition in New York. Her enquiries were answered by Frank Doel of Marks & Co., and so began a correspondence and a friendship spanning 20 years and 3000 miles.

84 Charing Cross Road, which was adapted for the stage from the volume of letters of the same name published by Hanff in 1971, is a play of singular charm, and the production currently showing at the Oxford Playhouse does full justice to it. The setting is engaging; the comforting, old-fashioned bookshop where Frank works almost, but not quite, blending into Helene's small apartment. The dialogue is smart, funny, and emotive.

As their relationship develops, we see the stiffly 'British' Frank gradually thaw in the face of Helene's unconventional and up-front kindness, while Helene herself takes a delight in breaking down his reserve, and also in extending her friendship to the shop's other employees. Rula Lenska is superb as Helene, and William Gaunt as Frank provides a wonderful calm counterpoint to her brash energy, carrying through a second half that is, dramatically, rather less tight than the first. To be honest, even though the other members of the cast have a great deal less to do, not one of them fails to pull their weight, and Joanne Mitchell is particularly impressive as Maxine Stuart, sending a lyrical description of the bookshop back to Helene in Manhattan.

84 Charing Cross Road is a story of friendship distilled, unencumbered by the tricky minutiae that can suffocate a day-to-day relationship. It is also a story about a friendship between two very different personalities brought together through a shared passion, and a common austerity of existence in Helene's precarious employment situation and the privations of post-war Britain. It may not be particularly highbrow fare, although full of pleasing references for bookish people, but it's simply presented and beautifully acted, and left me feeling soothed as well as entertained. I wasn't the only audience member applauding especially enthusiastically at the end. Definitely recommended.

Susie Cogan, 14th June 2004