One man, one stage, one trunk covered with old newspaper cuttings and around 200 minutes to fill. Could this combination hold an audience's attention for that long?

Not quite, but Alister O’Loughlin’s Edmund Kean managed single-handedly to enthral for at least 185 of those minutes - a feat which would have made the legendary thespian proud.

The Trilogy charted the tragedian’s life, from his humble beginnings to his resonating success, downfall and death.

Performed in the round on Theatre Royal’s stage, this simply-staged production offered bursts of unexpected intimacy as O’Loughlin dragged the audience into the action by locking eyes with them and forcing them to adopt various characters. And very weird it was, too, finding myself in the lusty ocular grip of a man I didn’t know at all and spending a few moments basking in the persona of Ophelia, Kean’s evil and sexy last mistress.

O’Loughlin’s sharp, funny and poetic script was peppered with snatches of song from ancient English ballads, skilful acts of tumbling and athleticism, and passages from Shakespeare and a range of writers prominent during Kean’s short lifetime (1789-1833).

Miranda Henderson, too, deserves credit for her direction and "dramaturgy" of what was not just a show, but a really remarkable experience.