Ladies Day

It was nice to be welcomed and shown to our seats, along with a drink, and a brief chat.  My thanks to the Society for their hospitality.

A very difficult play to accomplish on a small stage, but I think that all things considered Bovingdon did well to capture the various elements of the different scenes.

The fish plant was a very good set – the production line worked well with the dialogue and movement.  The Racecourse backdrop was nicely painted, and evocative of a real track, however I would have liked to have heard a little more activity as a backing to the action.

Costumes were mostly good, and I loved the ladies transition from their work overalls to their finery for the races.

I felt that Christina Payne as Jan and Lisa Harbron as Linda were a little over-shadowed by the more confident Shevon Burrows as Shelley and Barbara Bonney as Pearl, the contrast needed to be there, and I liked the diversity of the portrayals, but not at the cost of projection.

Shevon played the outgoing, slightly over the top Shelley with confidence, whilst Christina was the more shy retiring character, which suited her.

Barbara always gives us a well-studied portrayal, and this was another such occasion.

Lisa as Linda, the young person in the quartet came into her own with Patrick, it was nice to see her edge forward with her character.  I liked Matt Prowse as Patrick, it was a nice part he could get the grips with.

The different problems of the cast members, interwoven throughout, made the characters three-dimensional, and created both pathos and humour.

The accompanying music helped bridge the blackouts between scenes.

Pace was a little slow throughout, but there were some very funny bits, and I liked the way the play was written, to make the most of each situation.

Iain King once again brought energy with him to the stage, whilst Michael Swietochowski played the laidback, slightly sleazy Jim McCormack well.

Andrew Jamieson was Barry, who returned to tell Pearl it was all over, a very poignant scene – nicely done.

The final realisation that the ladies actually won their accumulator, after returning to work thinking they’d lost their money, was a lovely and uplifting end to the play.

A different play, with interesting directorial challenges to overcome, but one which on the whole I enjoyed.

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