Full House – A Valleys Story with Heart, Humour and a Handful of Bingo Balls
There’s something instantly disarming about walking into a theatre and feeling like you’ve stepped into somewhere you know. Full House, a co-production between Hannah Lad and RCT Theatres, does exactly that. Set in a bingo hall and built around one woman, one mic and a set of numbers, this is a night at the theatre that feels both brilliantly familiar and quietly extraordinary.
“Every punchline lands, every look and gesture perfectly judged. ”
Sam is your host for the evening, calling the numbers and keeping the energy high. But from the start there’s a question hanging in the air. Is she okay? And why exactly has she brought an urn along to bingo? What unfolds is a funny, moving and proudly Valleys story about love, loss and the messy, beautiful business of being human.
Written and performed by Hannah Lad, and directed by Hannah McPake, Full House is a masterclass in how much can be done with very little. There’s no flashy staging, no elaborate costume changes, no overblown tech. It simply does not need them. The power of this production lies squarely in the writing and, above all, in Lad’s performance.
Her physical comedy is exceptional. Every punchline lands, every look and gesture perfectly judged. There’s a very specific Valleys humour at play here. It is the kind that is universally funny, but becomes even richer when it feels close to home. The references, the rhythms, the characters we recognise from real life have you rocking in your seat with laughter. Lad has a touch of Daisy May Cooper about her, able to get a laugh from the smallest shift in expression.
“Full House is a masterclass in how much can be done with very little”
What makes Full House special, though, is how quickly it can turn. One moment you’re laughing at Sam’s bingo calls and quick-fire observations, the next the emotional temperature drops and the walls come down. In a blink, we are in the middle of something raw and deeply human, exploring grief, death and what it means to feel truly loved. The shift is seamless and genuinely affecting. There are moments that leave you with a lump in your throat before you even realise the show has quietly changed gear.
The supporting creative team deserve their flowers too. Designer Eve Wilson, Stage Manager and Lighting Designer Charlie Moore, BSL interpreter Julie Doyle and Creative Enabler Cler Stephens all help shape a space that feels intimate and real. It all serves the story without ever distracting from it.
At its core, Full House is about connection. Between performer and audience, between laughter and sadness, between the past and the present, life and death. It is honest, emotional and unmistakably Welsh. A reminder that you do not need spectacle when you have truth, heart and a performer as compelling as Hannah Lad at the centre of it all.
If this is anything to go by, whatever she does next will be well worth watching. HOUSE. 🎱
