Ladies Down Under

I would like to thank The Windmill Players for inviting me to see their production of Ladies Down Under, which is the sequel to the very successful Ladies’ Day. It follows the same four fish filleting lasses from Hull as they embark on an Aussie adventure, following their big win on the horses on Ladies’ Day at York. I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish, laughed a lot and it was a very enjoyable evening.

From the very beginning I was impressed by the staging of this production. Colin Johnston’s design and direction was superb throughout and the use of screen projections on the back wall worked brilliantly with the minimal set, to maximise the playing space of the stage and draw the audience into the action. It was especially effective in the aeroplane scene. Although there was very little actual scenery used, trouble had been taken with the small details such as having different departures and arrivals boards up for each airport scene, which I appreciated. Scene changes were generally efficient and executed by both cast and crew. There was only one early in the first half where the cast didn’t quite wait until blackout before moving but other than this, I felt the pace of the production was maintained. It was a nice touch to cover the scene changes by treating the audience to some didgeridoo music, which helped to maintain the atmosphere.

Another of the excellent technical aspects of this play was the lighting design, most notably in the Aussie outback scenes. The use of only soft yellow light from stage level was very effective in creating the ‘camping out around a fire under the stars’ vibe of those scenes. Unfortunately, and this is only a minor detail, a limitation of this is that it did cast shadows of the actors on the projection wall, which showed Uluru in the distance and served as a little reminder that we were watching a scene being played in a theatre rather than being absorbed into it. However, this didn’t take away from the overall effectiveness of this lighting choice and the mood it set in my opinion. Peter Jones’ sound operation was very slick, with perfectly timed sound effects throughout, which really complimented the action on stage. I would also like to mention the prompt Louise Evans, as it can be a delicate balance knowing how long to wait until giving the prompt but I felt that for the few lines for which one of the supporting characters required it in the second half, the prompt was subtly given with perfect timing, allowing the actor to remain fully in character. Nicely done, Louise – prompts are often unsung heroes who are fully focused and on the ball start to finish!

This production was reviewed on its opening night but it was clear the cast were well rehearsed and ready to perform. There was a fabulous chemistry which felt very natural between the four leads; Judi Adams as Pearl, Jackie Rhodes as Jan, Emma Louise Davies as Shelly and Hope Miller as Linda. It really wouldn’t be fair to single out any of these ladies; they worked as such a cohesive unit, each bringing their own strong and unique characterisations to their roles in such a natural way, it didn’t feel like I was watching four actors playing a part, rather four genuine friends just being themselves. All had excellent projection and diction and had clearly worked hard to deliver true Yorkshire, rather than generic northern sounding accents. Each character arc was clear to see and as an audience member I really did feel that I witnessed each of your personal, emotional journeys in the subtle changes of your postures, facial expressions and line deliveries – well done to all four of you! You really should be very proud of this performance.

The other nine supporting roles were shared between the remaining four cast members; Marc Adams, Mark Edmonds, Steve Cook and Malcolm Holroyd. From flight attendants to surfers, drag queens to outback camp leaders they did it all and very well too! The transformations were fabulous and fairly quick at times – costumes by Angela Hudson and Denise Flynn certainly played a part in disguising the fact that only four men were in the cast. Marc and Mark really did a great job in their heels as the drag queens Bondi Bitch and Koala Bare leading a rousing musical finale that I wasn’t expecting from a play!

Again, I thank The Windmill Players for inviting me along to Ladies Down Under and look forward to their future productions.

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