Bad Girls - the musical

The intimate Footlights Studio Theatre space provides the perfect setting for the unfolding dramas of HMP Larkhall. The audience is up-close and personal with the assorted gang of inmates and their deep-down hearts of gold. The simple set is minimal but also atmospheric with the aid of vivid sound effects such as the gliding and clink of a prison door in an echoey prison corridor.

Amongst the huge cast – capably directed by Ian Bennett – there are some stunners. On the performance I attended there were fans of the musical and the TV show and those who’re likely to be fans of both. I never saw the TV show and this was my first viewing of the musical rendering. It was clear that people around me instantly knew who was who, seeming to have a head start over me as these character’s names and accompanying personalities meant nothing to me prior to this evening.

I guess the biggest hinderance with this material is how the diverse characters from the TV series barely have time to develop when condensed into two and a half hours, it’s a musical penned for fans of a TV show I didn’t watch and I did find it tricky to latch on to some of the evidently iconic portrayals when not having a clue who any of them were beforehand. With the aid of a brief introduction to the core characters during the opening number I managed to get the gist and could adopt an idea of how these characters were originally depicted to appreciate what these performances were based on, an advantage I feel is required to wholly grasp and relish in a production of this musical.

Gareth Smith is genuinely creepy as crooked guard Jim Fenner (his promise to keep “a special eye” on his favourite girls is squirm inducing). I particularly enjoyed the number performed by Fenner and his sidekick, Sylvia “Bodybag” Hollamby (played by natural comic Rachel Wareing) - an amusing, vaudeville-style song and dance number.

Stand out performances for me were Gemma Sales as the hard nut hot headed Denny Blood. Caroline Knight expertly stole many a moment as old-timer Noreen Biggs. Rachel Cookson offered a charismatic rendition as Yvonne Atkins and Phil Shellard delivered a solid act as Nikki Wade. Making the mightiest impression for me was Kelly Harrington’s no-nonsense Helen Stewart, the Governor who hit us with an intimidating presence but later exposed her softer nature which was expertly done. Helen’s story was the one I latched onto which was exposed with vigour and assurance.

Tori Vaal proffered a mighty interpretation as Shell Dockley who excelled during her tactic to give Fenner his comeuppance. Natalie Bennett and Vicky Twigg were light relief as the two Julie’s with Natalie’s number, when on the phone to her son, offering an unexpected highlight, beautifully done.     

The shifting and simple arranging of a few prison bar screens were all that was needed in the form of a set to depict the various locations throughout the prison. Simple and clean, reducing any unnecessary fuss. The use of projection came in handy for certain moments within the story too. Whenever a scene was being set up the sound effect accompanied by the projection of rotating prison bars was a nifty idea but soon got tiresome after the umpteenth time, jarring with what I’d imagine should be a continuous transition between scenes. The lighting design is an area which could have done with a bit more attention, many LX states were oddly focussed as they often seemed to light the audience as much as, if not more than, the performance area. I’d naturally put this down to teething problems of using a new and unknown venue but is certainly an area to address if deciding to remain at Footlights. The sound balance was causing a few issues on the night I attended with a fair amount of interference and feedback, granted, the sound operator acted quickly each time which is to be commended but this didn’t stop the occurrence repeating throughout the night, act two was much smoother and controlled from a technical perspective.    

It’s all too rare to see such a strong cast on stage only three of whom are men, in a musical written by three women. Sometimes dark but mostly daft. Despite this, there’s something strangely endearing about seeing a group of compelling women sing their way to justice – a mildly uplifting triumph of unity over misogyny.

The music was expertly handled by Musical Director Simon Murray and his triumphant troupe of musicians whilst sung to the exceptional standard from the ‘All Saints’ cast though the numbers that make up this score are predominantly forgettable. Although heaps of fun it’s not a show which rests on its music, more the parody and (I assume) homage to the series of which it evolves. No doubt if I watched the box set then saw the musical I’d have had a completely different experience.

‘Bad Girls’ features enough action for a life sentence including a rape, a suicide, a riot, a hunger strike, some serious partying, an almost fatal fire and a lesbian affair between a prisoner and a Governor. A show for connoisseurs of the TV series but probably not too many other people as I quickly realised though this was certainly a production packed to the prison rafters with camp fun, melodrama and gutsy performances.

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