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Suspense is generated by ambiguous motives, with caring and vicious urges intertwined. Two Step is also potentially provocative, satirising AA’s pseudo-religious jargon and raising questions about moral responsibility. On the other hand, after a wave of strong new plays by black writers (notably at the National and Royal Court), this fledgling work feels curiously old-fashioned. The closing twists could be tighter and, while Stone has an ear for quirky idioms and quips, his dialogue can be repetitive. The ghost’s habit of talking in harrowed rhymes is awkward too.Still, Bushell-Mingo’s staging is absorbing, with Mona’s home floating like a lonely island in the darkness and with Remi Wilson, as the restless ghost, silently drifting on the periphery or suddenly surfacing from Mona’s bath, spraying water. Now he’s suddenly fetched up at her council flat, unrecognisably smart-suited and telling her all about his great new life as a writer – the house in Islington, the young white wife, the brilliant son etc.

Mona is not best pleased and fights back with sarcastic jibes. Simultaneously, she is covering up mental instability, for she is haunted by the ghost of a girl who might be Mona’s younger self, or the daughter she lost. When Lenny finally gets to the point – he wants to make amends, as one of the steps in his Alcoholics Anonymous recovery programme – Mona toys with forgiveness.For a first play, this is pretty good. A few months back, her production of Mother Courage – set in Nigeria – was touring the UK.

Meantime, she has been orchestrating Push ‘O4, and this season of shows by black artists is now presenting theatre, opera and ballet premieres in partnership with the Almeida, the ROH and ENO.
Rhashan Stone is multi-tasking as well. Besides playing the gawky romantic lead in Simply Heavenly, he has written Two Step for Push – a seriocomic revenge drama. Lenny (Derek Griffiths) dumped Mona (Do?roll) 30-odd years ago when he was a heavy drinker and she got pregnant. The actress-turned-director, Josette Bushell-Mingo, is impressively busy. In October, her vibrant staging of the musical, Simply Heavenly, is transferring to the West End.

A stage prequel, Blonde Bombshells of 1943, premiered last April at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.. Two sequels followed.The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2000)Judi Dench, Ian Holm, Leslie Caron and a swing band: BAFTAs, a Golden Globe and a brace of Emmy nominations came its way. Does he feel like a survivor of some sort? “The last of the dinosaurs, you mean? I suppose that most of the key players have…” he struggles to locate the correct expression, but Shirley has a useful suggestion “Dropped off the branch?” Her husband concurs. But it does annoy me that there are wonderful plays in the archive – by Barry Collins, David Rudkin, Henry Livings – and yet they’re never shown Brilliant plays made for David Rose at Pebble Mill And now the studio’s been sold off. There were one or two old lags around then, and we were a bit impatient with them. Nigel Kneale is still doing it.”There’s a deal of ageism in the business. People like to work with their own generation – as we did in the Sixties.