Daisy Pulls It Off

Jubilate, what fun! - is an utterly fitting synopsis of Diane Robinsons production of the hilarious and deliciously swish script penned by Denise Deegan which takes a delightfully stylised poke at 1920's English girls boarding school life. Frequently the play is treated St.Trinians style with the schoolgirls played by older actresses and the headmistress by a man, however Wick Theatre Company was much more discerning in their casting and had clearly been fortunate in having such an incredible pool of talent, old and new, to chose from.

The entire company were fully on their game during the evening that we enjoyed watching, with every performance honed to perfection with just the right measure of stylised over sincerity stereotypical of the comedy period piece, without becoming overly caricature or crass.

There were obvious stand-out performances and, as so often is the case, these came for the most part from the leading principals, not only by virtue of the size and nature of their parts, but clearly the talent reflecting and justifying their casting. Sybil Burlington [Anna Quick] and Clare Beaumont [Helen Armes] were both superb characterisations and Anna and Helen delivered outstanding, amusing but simultaneously believable character performances. All of the remaining cast were equally excellent during their cameo moments, however Naomi Horsfall as Trixie Martin was totally brilliant in the role and delivered many of the show stopping touches and great belly laughs. However for sheer role immersion and continuity of luminosity in delivery the lead, Sophie Lane as Daisy Meredith, was the highlight of the production, with a perfectly timed delivery and utter conviction for this feisty but wholly naive character that any professional would be overjoyed to convey.

However behind every cast delivering this standard of performance there is always a great director and the detailed touches and nuances of lustre from Diane Robinson were not overlooked. I absolutely loved her treatment and style in delivering something both true to the writing and at the same time fresh and original - a truly noteworthy success.

Further, behind every successful director and cast there is always a team of dedicated production staff ensuring that the vision is not only delivered, but delivered with passion. The set, wardrobe, costumes, sound, lighting, properties and front of house all delivered first class contributions every bit as vital and professional as the action on stage which raised incredibly high production values, not to mention some very tuneful whistling.

I attend and have attended very many top draw productions in discharging my duty as NODA rep and all can say in summary is that it will take some time to top the sheer fun and delight provided by this Wick Theatre Company show. Huge congratulations to Diane and the entire cast, crew and company on this first rate production - it wasn't only Daisy who pulled it off, WTC certainly did!

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