Bad Girls

Not having watched the series on TV I had no idea what to expect from a musical set in a women’s prison, or how it would work as a musical.  I certainly did not expect the gritty, funny and extremely powerful piece that it was.

Right from the opening scene with Rachel being strip searched - a fairly daring step in amateur theatre - the indignity and fear of what a stay at HMP would be like was clearly demonstrated. Following that was the wonderfully busy scene which introduced the inmates as they sang ’I Shouldn’t Be Here’. From the start of the show the ladies of the company portrayed the different types of characters and they kept in that character throughout the performance. I particularly noticed Emily’s portrayal of Sarah - possibly because I know her but no less notable for that. They all backed the principals strongly and were totally involved. I mention the company players first because without such strong support from them it would not have been the remarkable show that it was. The thing that struck me about this production was that every person on stage appeared to be totally immersed in their own character -- and they were also enjoying it tremendously!

The two storey prison set was most impressive and it adapted quickly and easily with the sliding panels. Using the auditorium for the sitting room and office worked well too.

Props and furniture were as I imagine they might be and I liked the way the ladies set up and cleared the tables and chairs each time they were using the common room – it seemed a natural thing to do.

As principal officer James Fenner, Eddie King was excellent. He brought to the audience the seedy happenings that we imagine might happen in prison, but he also managed to be likeable whilst doing it!

Paul Furlong played the suitably formal Governing Governor with confidence.

Wing Governor Helen Stewart, a reasonable and reforming person in authority who had the determination to make life more bearable for the inmates, was played securely by Freya Wall. She looked professional and showed both strength and vulnerability in the role.

Julie Hammond gave a good performance as the stereotypical no-nonsense female prison warder, Sylvia Hollamby - relaxed with her fellow officers but tough with the girls - and Dan Bundy made a likeable, more approachable, less experienced Junior Officer Justin Mattison, who had hopes which proved to be ill-founded, of getting closer to Wing Governor Helen.

Rachel’s fear was tangible when she was taken to meet her fellow inmates and then left with the motley gang of women, two of whom immediately hit on her as weaker than they were. I was scared for her – no surprise that she fell for James’s offer of protection.

The principal prisoners were utterly credible in their roles and as a member of the audience I was presented with a clear and frightening vision of what life would be like in a place containing so many misguided and tough, rough women. They all had a different type of character to play and Laura Thomas, Michelle Friend, Jenny Seddon, Lucy Brown, Penny Thatcher and Rachel Hudspith were all first rate. TracyAnn Johnson, and Michele Zeman presented a less tough duo, jailed for the crime of soliciting/theft and they worked well together as the two ladies in charge of the domestic chores in the common room. Judy Good, as the shoplifter who wasn’t in the same criminal league as the ‘real’ criminals provided some very amusing moments

The musical numbers were terrific – portraying as they did a whole gamut of emotions from love songs through to hope and defiance and also a wide range of vocal styles. Jake Hellier the Musical Director brought out the very best from the soloists and company. The band was well-balanced in sound and never too loud.

I particularly liked the opening song, ‘I Shouldn’t Be Here’ - the age-old prisoner’s lament, ‘Jail Craft’ and then Laura’s rendition of ‘One Moment’ which was incredibly powerful. Lucy’s ‘Freedom Road’ Gospel song was brilliant! The duet between Laura and Freya was commendable particularly as they were so far apart on stage - their timing was spot on and they sang as one voice. Their relationship was sensitively handled.

‘Sorry’ was good too – such a moving song and performed sensitively by TracyAnn, and ‘All Banged Up’ was another notable number by Penny and the two ‘Julies’

Michelle’s Country Western with Eddie was really entertaining –and I loved her outfit.

The three Wing Officers, played by Gareth, Rich and Tom acquitted themselves well in their supporting roles.

I assume that the cast provided costumes as the director saw fit, and they appeared appropriate for such a mixed bag of women prisoners.

Polly did a wonderful job on the direction front and couldn’t be faulted. The co-ordinated chorus movements were well rehearsed and the setting of the melees/ demonstrations was superb. They looked utterly spontaneous, especially the finale of Act One which was amazing!

Your programme is nicely put together, keeping to the theme of the show, but whilst the front cover is very striking the black internal pages are difficult to read in the low lights of the theatre.

The production team and indeed everyone involved in the staging of ‘Bad Girls’ should be extremely proud of themselves. It was an enormous challenge to take on and you turned it into an enormous theatrical triumph!

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