You can understand why real-life mother and daughter Christine and Lois Mackie were cast in the central roles of Rona Munro’s 2002 prison drama. Christine plays Fay, a woman serving a life sentence for murder, and Lois plays Josie, her daughter and only visitor. The irony of the play lies not only in their estrangement but also in how differently they have turned out. It has been 15 years since Josie last saw her mother, and she has grown up under the care of her grandmother, becoming a composed, professional woman with a career in business and a life filled with travel. Lois Mackie portrays Josie with a sense of emotional distance, as if she moves effortlessly through the world of work but struggles to find a sense of self in her personal life. Whatever happened in her childhood seems to have stripped her of identity, and she comes to the prison visiting room as if she needs to be filled in or defined by someone else. In contrast to Josie’s calm, middle-class demeanor, Fay is portrayed with sharp edges and a restless energy. Christine Mackie gives a powerful performance as a woman trapped in a cell, constantly on alert for danger, her body restrained but always ready to move. She is at times inconsolable, at others manipulative, and always searching for trust, yet never fully trustworthy. The question lingers: is her erratic behavior a result of being locked up, or is it a deeper character flaw? As the months pass and they meet again and again, the two women become even more different—highlighting Munro’s central theme that, in different circumstances, someone like Josie might forget that people like Fay even exist, let alone consider the purpose of prison, its impact on mental health, or the fact that women are often incarcerated not out of malice, but due to bad luck or circumstance. The play’s central conflict begins with a man, as both women’s trauma stems from their experiences with him. Sam Holland-Bunyan’s production for Best Girl is minimalist and subdued, focusing on the psychological complexity of the women’s relationship. The prison guards, played by Ellaney Hayden and Jamie Smelt, are ever-present, adding to the tension. While this low-key approach allows the emotional depth of the story to come through, it also makes the play feel long, and some of Munro’s sharper humor is lost in the quiet tone. Despite this, the fractured relationship between mother and daughter remains compelling and deeply sad. The production runs at At Home, Manchester, until 19 September, and then moves to The Dukes in Lancaster from 30 September to 3 October.