Cheshire Cats

There is a powerful emotional theme underlying the 2005 play Cheshire Cats about the impact of breast cancer on families and friends with some moving soliloquies exploring those themes. It naturally appeals to amateur societies with a central cast of five ladies preparing and doing the moonwalk in London in aid of Cancer charities each with distinctive characters and motivations but bonded in friendship. The play is heartwarming and emotionally engaging but the comedy does not match the strength of Calendar Girls with its similar themes and frequent professional revivals. 

There is a curious unevenness in the writing, especially in the long Act 2 Scene 1 which follows the ladies in very short episodic drop ins to various mile posts during the walk and their interactions with the marshals along the course. Together with slow changes to the signage along the course, the pace drops, and the comedy is not sharp enough to sustain the interest until the ladies are reunited. 

It was however a pleasure to see the play produced by the Datchet Players in my first visit to the society since they joined NODA. There were some excellent well-acted performances by the five ladies in the roles of Vicky, Maggie, Hilary, Siobhan and Yvonne who established their characters and interactions between them very effectively and showed great confidence and assurance in the portrayals. I hope the collections at the end raise a lot for the Walk the walk charity as well as raising awareness and support for those affected. 

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