Betty Blue Eyes

Such a pity that the curtain up was delayed with no explanation to the audience.  However, once the show got under way it was well paced throughout.  Once again LODS have brought us a relatively new show.  Director Sallie Warrington had given a lot of thought to the progression of the action and the scene changes were smooth and as short as she could have made them.

There were a lot of named characters in this production and their performances are all worthy of mention.  Michael James played Chiropodist Gilbert Chilvers extremely well, just the right level of diffidence but plenty of control throughout.  He was well matched by Joanne Halliday playing his wife Joyce.  Both have excellent singing voices and they are clearly seasoned performers.   Helen Sharpe, once again, proved just how versatile an actress she is, her performance as Mother Dear was simply outstanding.  

Simon Sharpe (Dr James Swaby) Andy Stone (Henry Allardyce) and Peter Brown (Francis Lockwood) made a great team of leading men.  All three have a long list of theatrical credits and their on-stage performances were a joy to watch.   The ladies were played by Emma Elliott (Mrs Metcalf) Laura Hurrell (Mrs Roach) Zoe Berry (Mrs Allardyce) Gemma Lloyd (Mrs Lester) and Rosie Munns (Mrs Turnbull).  All excellent characterisations.

Andrew Seal played Inspector Wormald and what a horrible person he was too!  The Principal line-up was completed by Sarah Hickling as Betty.  Being a puppet handler on stage is a very difficult thing to do and Sarah pulled it off beautifully.  The remaining named characters all performed well and the ensemble were excellent; plenty of good singing (thanks to MD Rachael Plunkett) great characterisations and some very nice touches to their performances.  Finally, a compliment to most of the performers for maintaining the accent throughout; one or two slipped a bit on occasions but, overall, it was consistent.

The show was beautifully costumed, absolutely in period as it should be coming from two notable costume hire companies.   However, what made them even better was the accessorising and the wigs, well done to whoever co-ordinated this, unfortunately they were not credited in the programme.

The scenery was simple but effective and I liked the ‘cartoonish’ look.  The band, under the direction of conductor Stuart Woolner, was well balanced and supported the singing well.

If I must make a critical comment it would be about the green painting of the condemned meat!  It really didn’t work for me and I am sure it should have been possible to have something more realistic.  However, that is a minor criticism of what was an excellent production overall.

I really enjoyed the production as did everyone I overheard leaving the auditorium.

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