In 1823, on a farm in the countryside outside the rapidly industrialising Manchester, Helen is working the land alone as her husband tries to earn some money in the factories of the big city. Dark Satanic sits at a turning point in the relationships between town and country, rich and poor, and men and women; and it has something interesting to say about all of them.

Having left domestic service, Helen and her husband have recently taken on their own farm, and the play takes us through a year in Helen’s life. We witness her early enthusiasm for running the farm by herself, the setbacks caused by poor weather, and the lack of letters from her husband in Manchester. Threaded through it all is her indefatigability in learning new skills, and her determination to make the big decisions that need to be made – both for the sake of the farm and for herself.

Emma Romy-Jones brings a steeliness to the part of Helen; you’re never in any doubt that she has what it takes to manage the farm, even if she questions it herself at times. She also introduces a physicality to this one-person performance which prevents it getting bogged down and static. As she runs across the stage mimicking the young folk at the fair, you can almost feel the fresh air blowing; conversely, her restricted agitated movement while in the city represents its crush and bustle, and perfectly conveys her discomfort away from the farm.

The technical aspects of the show are simple and effective too. The sound effects of thunder, sheep bleating, or industrial clatter neatly punctuate the play and set up the new scenes, and I also liked the lighting changes, that swapped the warm glow of the countryside for the impersonal cold blue of the city.

Rob Johnston is an accomplished playwright, and this is another well-constructed play that evokes the period and explores the social issues changing society. There is even a nod to climate change and modern environmental concerns, with some of the local villagers blaming the smoke from the city for the dark clouds and bad weather they experience in the country.

Yet there is a sense that the period and the history, rather than Helen’s personal struggles, are leading the story. And Helen's character-defining determination robs the play of a sense of jeopardy. Despite her trials through the long hard winter, the urgent need to learn new skills, and the dangers she faces in the city, we never really feel that she is at risk of losing everything. She is too composed; we need to see a little more suffering to feel real empathy for her.

But this remains a thought-provoking and interesting play, which uses the issues confronting Helen to make us think about how we live now. Is the city still the future? What’s the role of the countryside? Do we follow our own dreams or tie ourselves to others?