It is ten years since William Nicholson wrote his last stage play, The Retreat From Moscow, but the wait has been well worthwhile. For his latest offering, Crash, is a brilliant piece of writing and superbly performed by the cast of five at its world premiere at West Yorkshire Playhouse.

This play smashes open ethical questions surrounding the recent banking crisis, addressing head-on the morality of accepting multi-million pound bonuses for a banking system which failed its people. In a world that has been dominated by the accumulation of wealth, Nicholson asks just who is entitled to what, and how much is it all really worth?

Nicholson made his name with two TV dramas, Shadowlands and Life Story both of which won BAFTA awards in the early 1990s.

On the day that Chancellor George Osborne announced his spending cuts, it was highly appropriate that the capacity audience in the Courtyard Theatre at West Yorkshire Playhouse were able to experience through Nicholson’s writing the greed of the city traders who brought about the banking collapse and who nearly brought the country to its knees.

The acting by the four main actors – Carolyn Backhouse (Christine), Helen Bradbury (Eva), Colin Mace (Nick) and Steven Pacey (Humph) – was absolutely brilliant and they drew the audience into the plot so well.

Nick, a city trader, has commissioned his old university friend Humph, an artist and sculptor, to produce a sculpture for him and invites him and his wife Carolyn, who was also at university with Nick and Humph, down to his £10 million mansion for the weekend to deliver this. There they meet his girlfriend Eva from Croatia but the friendship soon turns sour as Humph chastises Nick for his greed – he owns five houses around the world – made at the expense of the British taxpayer. This is a fascinating clash of personalities and is the crux of the story.

I was highly impressed with the set designed by Frances O’Connor portraying the Elizabethan mansion with its fine wood panelling and Tudor staircase, yet with the modern touches of the electronic system to draw back the panelling to reveal an overstocked drinks cabinet full of champagne and quality beers. There was also the Damien Hirst spot painting on the wall worth several million pounds. The large plate glass window at the front provides the ideal opportunity for the audience to experience everything happening in the living room of the property – another classic design touch.

Sarah Esdalle has done a fine job as director of this production and I am sure that, like many other world premieres at West Yorkshire Playhouse, it will go on to get rave reviews in the West End in due course. Catch it while you can.