Grease

Grease is the word! A favourite show of mine but I have never had the opportunity to see the stage version of it! Shocking I know, but there it is. So off to The Rep I went and what an enjoyable night I had.

The set was huge but was great for creating a variety of acting areas and different levels to add interest. However, I think because of its size the scene changes were quite clumsy and stopped the flow of the show. Costumes worked well and helped to establish the characters. The lighting seemed a little dark for such a bright show. Never underestimate how the use of effective lighting can increase the impact of the different scenes. It was great to see the band revealed in the dance hall scene, yes it was live musicians and not backing tracks!

The stage was filled with lots of enthusiastic youngsters and I really enjoyed the full company dance sections. The clever, and quite difficult, choreography was well rehearsed and performed. The principal performers really got into character and worked well together. One point I would make is that the dialogue, at times, was very difficult to hear. Actors still need to project their voices and work on their diction. Every line is important and the audience doesn’t want to work hard to decipher what is being said.

There were some lovely vocal performances in the show, particularly Lydia Adams as Sandy who sang with such confidence and style. I also have to give a special mention to Kira Matthews who played Jan. She was so watchable - quirky and funny, certainly a scene-stealer.

Grease was a show full of energy and one to be proud of, it was certainly enjoyed by the audience and my congratulations go to the cast, crew, musicians and production team.

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