Telling the story of Simon and Garfunkel in a two hour production which relies so heavily on getting close to an authentic sound could have been fraught with problems.

After all you’re dealing with one of the most exquisite folk-rock acts that has ever existed here. Tribute band fare is just not going to cut the proverbial mustard.

But once Greg Clarke (Paul Simon) and Joe Sterling (Art Garfunkel) start singing any doubts evaporate.They may not be exact replicas of the famed duo but they capture the spirit of Simon and Garfunkel’s music to a tee and with a tasty backing band behind them they deliver a great show. The wonderful harmonies, Garfunkel’s sweetly pure voice and Paul Simon’s dextrous guitar work are perfectly covered here.

The big hits are all there from The Sound of Silence and Homeward Bound via Mrs Robinson and America to Bridge Over Troubled Water and The Boxer.

There are many more songs of course. Other highlights include Slip Sliding Away, Late in the Evening and a particularly poignant Only Living Boy in New York. It’s a compelling story beautifully told with some excellent between songs narration from both Clarke and Sterling.

Using back projected archive film to set the scene, the production takes the audience on a journey from the earliest days when the two schoolfriend formed an Everly Brothers style rock ’n’ roll harmony act called Tom and Jerry before reverting to their real names and reinventing themselves folkies.

It explores Paul Simon’s brief but fruitful solo career in the UK before a revitalised Simon and Garfunkel found themselves back in America and how, with a beefed up sound, they were on-course for Grammy award winning super-stardom.

Sadly the constant recording and touring took its toll and in 1970, at the height of their powers, the pair went their separate ways before re-forming a decade later for a one-off reunion concert in New York’s Central Park. The audience was half-a-million strong.

This show captures it all. The fact that 50 years after their first big hits you can tell Simon and Garfunkel’s musical story on stage and it plays to a capacity house and earns a standing ovation tells you something about just how good they were together. This is a great celebration.

Jeremy Miles