Ladies Day

Ladies Day... a comedy play... presented by St Michaels Amateur Dramatic Society at St Michael’s Parish Hall, Shaw Street, Wigan on Friday, 6th June 2025.

Ladies Day is a comedy play penned by Amanda Whittington. The narrative revolves around the lives and loves of Pearl, Shelley, Jan, and Linda our ‘fish-filleting foursome’. Life as a ‘fish-filleter’ is one long, hard slog, but as they head to ‘Ladies Day’ and the races... their fortunes are set to change! With factory hairnets discarded, replaced by fancy hats, the four friends arrive at the racecourse for an unforgettable day out. Secrets are spilled whilst downing champagne which results in friendships being tested to the limit. As, the day unfolds, tempers fray, but their ‘accumulator bet’ keeps quietly winning! If their luck and nerves hold out, the ladies could hit the jackpot!  Did their nerves hold, did their luck change .... all I can say is you’ll have to watch it to find out!

Production Team ... leading us over the ‘jumps and bumps’ was June Dowd (Director), who also took on one of the lead roles, that of ‘Pearl’.  June had cast wisely, although the play did have a bit of a ‘stuttering start’ (two, perhaps three major prompts during first scene), which did give me an uneasy feeling, but things soon settled down with our all four leading ladies taking us on their own individual journeys and providing us with an evening of witty yet emotional entertainment, which they provided with effortless ease!

The Cast ... the ‘set-up’, with the four leading ladies had a familiar vibe ... reminded me oh so much of the four leading characters from Shelia’s Island ... a shy one, a brassy one, a leader and one who has everything in her rucksack/bag ... but that was as far as the similarity went! This was indeed a funny play in its own right ... with our four leading ladies producing four larger than life characters... who, from the opening scene until the very end, just gave us their all!  Let me first introduce to our ‘four fish filleting’ leads and then the cast...  
Michelle Kenny played ‘Jan’ ... ‘posh hat’, ‘bag full of goodies’, downtrodden mother, uncertain what her future holds as she cuts the apron strings, packing her daughter off to university.
Debbie Jones played ‘Linda’ .... the ‘shy one’... the sweetest, biggest Tony Christie Fan ever, who goes to races hoping to meet her idol... only to meet and fall in love with an Irish jockey!
June Dowd played ‘Pearl’ .... the ‘leader’ ... hiding a guilty secret about an illicit affair she’s been having for years. Appears slightly superior to the other girls, on the verge of semi-retirement.
Claire Gomersall played ‘Shelly’ ... befittingly tarty, the ‘brassy one’...  confident, a real larger than life character created... stage presence aplenty, OMG Claire just says it as it is... hilarious!
Ian Field... played ‘Joe’ ... our ‘clip board’ carrying ‘Supervisor’ at the ‘fish filleting plant
Lewis Holding played ‘Fred ... a ‘Ticket Tout’ at the Race Course
Joe Coyne played ‘Jim McCormack’ ... arrogant, smooth-talking TV Pundit ... God’s gift to women, or so he thinks, throws money around in an attempt to seduce ‘Shelly’!
Shaun Graham, relative newcomer to the stage who played ‘Patrick’ the Irish Jockey, who meets and is smitten by ‘Linda’
Mark Hill played a dual role ... ‘Kevin a Gambler’ and ‘Barry a Bookie’... look out for the twist!

All the cast worked really well together, especially the four leading ladies who provided us with four amazing characters. As you know I’m never one to sit on the fence... so I’m going to stick my neck out yet again and suggest MY favourite character, you’ll have your own, this is mine... which had to be Claire Gomersall... aka ‘Shelly’. Loud, brassy, hilarious... Claire just oozed confidence from first word till last, and there was a lot in between. Loved her ‘no nonsense’ approach to life... although she did show us the more vulnerable/naive side of her character toward the end of the production, be proud Claire great job!  Having said all that, I do think the success of this witty yet poignant play was the interplay between all four leading ladies, who worked together ever so well whilst revealing their ‘back-stories’ and taking us on their own individual journey’s .... be proud lady’s great job!

Stage/Set/Tech ... those who know St Michael’s Parish Hall will know its limitations, but St Michael’s have this great knack of making use of every inch of the space available, starting with the construction of a lower platform in front of the main stage which was used throughout the evening and as we entered the hall, used to depict the ‘Fish Plant’ with two tables and four suitably placed plastic containers used for the filleting the fish and used as the opening scene were our four fish filters are engaged in casual, familiar banter - discussing what they’d had for tea about watching Emmerdale... which was immediately relatable and effectively drew us, the audience, in.  Having this set off stage afforded more room on stage for the Race scenes... thus allowing the play to run smoothly and the pace not to drop ... designed by June Dowd.  Looking after all things stage wise, we had Julie Clarke (Stage Manager) with the cast providing the Stage Management Team. 

Lighting and Sound which was good, was in the ever so capable hands of Caitriona Muir positioned in her usual ‘Perch’ high above the audience.  Be very proud one and all ... all worked very well!

Wardrobe ... overseen and provided by June Dowd and the cast themselves.  Looked really good, authentic and suitable for the period.

Thank you so much for your invite and your welcome.... I thoroughly enjoyed the production, can’t wait to see you all again soon.

Stay safe, keep well…
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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