Betty Blue Eyes

Set in a small Yorkshire town in post-war England struggling with rationing in 1947 (which amongst other things suffered the coldest winter in decades), the story centres around the adventures of a loveable pig, Betty, who is being illegally reared to provide the centrepiece at a gala dinner for the local worthies, to celebrate the marriage of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and the lives of the inhabitants with their petty snobberies and prejudices.

The simple set served well for all the main scenes with minimum need for major changes.  Authentic props such as wicker baskets and even a period bicycle which came and went on stage as Gilbert’s mode of transport to visit his patients in their homes.  Effective lighting and good use of the small three-piece band under the direction of Diana Vivian added to the ambience.  The authentic costumes were faultless – no mean feat for such a large cast.  Scarves, aprons and hair-do’s all contributed to the genuine feel for the period.  Congratulations to Laura Musco and her team who must have put in a huge amount of work getting it just right.

The show opens with the whole cast on stage singing ‘Fair Shares For All’, which ironically didn’t apply to the rest of the story where there was very clearly a class divide!  Newly arrived in town is chiropodist Gilbert Chilvers (Tony Carpenter), likeable and gentle, and his ambitious and pushy wife Joyce (Susie Gow) who epitomised Hyacinth Bucket.  Gilbert yearns for his own surgery and is keen to rent a shop on the much sought-after Parade but is thwarted by the patronising Town Council, led by the obnoxious Dr Swaby (Richard White) and his two fellow members Francis Lockwood (Ellis Nichols) and Henry Allardyce (Eric Collins), although the latter turns out to be somewhat soft-hearted and contributes to a happy ending!  To add insult to injury, Joyce discovers that she and Gilbert have not been invited to the gala dinner.  Gilbert is furious and decides to steal Betty from the local farm and hide her in his house.  A clever touch was the projection on the back wall of a little car travelling to the farm with Gilbert at the wheel, and returning with Betty on the back seat.  Mayhem ensues.  Betty is clearly not domesticated and Joyce determines that Gilbert must kill Betty, offering him an inadequate instrument to do the deed which looked like something from his medical bag.  Poor Gilbert is not the man for the job.  Indeed, his touching song “The Kind of Man I am” demonstrates his kind-hearted and charitable nature.

Joyce’s elderly mother, Mother Dear (Jennifer Charters) (“She’s 74, you know”) provided much of the humour with her old lady behaviour, constantly getting the wrong end of the stick, never quite understanding whether there is a pig or not, as she tried to work out in her hilarious song “Pig, No Pig”.

Inspector Wormold (Richard Ashton), the creepy Meat Inspector, made himself thoroughly unpopular, determined to lock up anyone flouting food rationing laws, closing down successive butchers’ shops and making an art of painting so-called illegal meat bright green, descending on the unsuspecting villagers dressed head to foot in black leather.

Betty herself, expertly operated by Philip Hutchinson, was indeed loveable with her bright blue eyes and long eyelashes.

But all’s well that ends well – and I do like a happy ending!  Betty doesn’t succumb to a sticky end but lives in luxury with Henry who has fallen for her, banishing his wife to the sofa.  Joyce saves the day at the gala dinner by concocting the main course from Spam to replace what should have been a succulent Betty.  It turns out that Gilbert has been accepting ration coupons as payment for his services which he saves up and sends to Buckingham Palace to help pay for Princess Elizabeth’s wedding dress.  When a letter arrives from the Palace thanking him, his true nature is revealed and Joyce is suitably overcome with remorse having, treated him with some contempt up to then.  Gilbert, Joyce and Mother Dear are included in the banquet, albeit on a small table at a lower level tacked on the end, no doubt to reflect their inferior status.

This light-hearted musical was full of fun with a ridiculous but endearing storyline and hilarious song lyrics.  The casting was spot-on.  Congratulations to Heather Legat for another enjoyable show which lived up to the Stagers’ reputation by providing us with a terrific evening’s entertainment.

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