Betty Blue Eyes

This is a really funny show. Set in 1947 in England with meat still rationed, a small community wanted to celebrate the royal wedding with a special meal but they needed meat so the local bigwigs secretly have an illicit pig, one with beautiful blue eyes. The scenario was ripe for farce - and so it proved. Craig Lowe presented Gilbert the local chiropodist who was denied a shop rental because he didn’t fit in, at first as hesitant and self effacing but then grew in stature and gained respect for his principled stances. This was reflected in his songs and by the time he sang The Kind of Man I Am he had us reeled us in. As his assertive wife Joyce, Hannah Easton commanded the stage showing her determination not to be ignored and to be included at the meal. Her voice was well suited to the numbers and she delivered a heartfelt Nobody.  Eric Brown revelled in the role of  zealous Inspector Wormold as Gestapo-like he sniffed out meat under the counter, closed butcher shops and painted good meat green with his horrid little brush. As events climaxed into the farce of Gilbert kidnapping the pig, Carol Fraser excelled herself in the role of Mother Dear. Her mannerisms of an elderly lady were spot on and comedic, while her reactions to thinking she was to be done away with and her confusion in the wonderful Pig, No Pig number were a delight. The well drawn bigwigs made their mark with Keith Hewitt as snob Dr Swaby, Guy Sutherland as his soulmate Mr Lockwood and Jesper Petersen as the soft heart Mr Allardyce who fell in love with Betty’s blue eyes. Gregor Peston as Sgt Noble did well to tread the fine line of upholding the law while contributing to the secret. Chris Hogg had a lovely cameo role as the pig farmer while the pig was well worked by her handler Claire Withnell. Wives and members of the community all played their parts well including the regal Prince and Princess. This is a good company show with lots of named parts and cast involved in lots of songs and scenes: queuing for meat, reacting to Wormold and enjoying the banquet. Songs were well delivered and choreographed.  Costumes resonated the period as did the set. This was a most enjoyable and hilarious show, well executed by all.

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