Ladies' Day

This is a lovely heart warming story of four lady fish packers who take a day off to visit the races when Royal Ascot comes to York. The four ladies were well suited to their parts and came together as a very amusing team. We had Pearl (Judith Smith) the seemingly sensible member of the group who, it turns out, has been having a secret affair. She played the part with great feeling especially when she finally met up with her missing lover. Jane Collins as her friend Jan played her part superbly. She came out of her doting mother role and after numerous glasses of champagne gave a wonderful inebriated performance. Louise Timms as the streetwise Shelley brought us plenty of laughs with her attempts to rub shoulders with the rich and famous.We found, as the play went on, that this was her way of trying to solve her desperate financial problems. Linda (Charlotte Thornton) was a wonderful naive contrast to the other more worldly characters. She won the hearts of the audience with her winsome ways and innocent views on life.

The four ladies were well supported by the three men in the cast, Chris Binns, John Haywood and Damien Burras who between them played a variety of roles. They were all experienced players and contrasted the different characters well.

The simple set was a brilliant idea, the scene changes worked well and were entertaining in themselves with the scene shifters in costume.

The costumes throughout the play were excellent and the Ascot wear for the ladies was very appropriate.

The sound and lighting effects were well done and added to the overall excellent production. A most enjoyable evening.

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