Ladies Down Under

“Ladies Down Under” by Amanda Whittington is the sequel to “Ladies Day” we follow the fortunes of the same four fish packers Pearl, Linda, Jan and Shelley, who we first meet in “Ladies Day” who won £100,000 each at the races. They have now decided to take a trip to Australia where they are trying to live the dream of a lifetime.  However while in Australia these four fearless ladies find there's more to life than money,

This was another outstanding production directed by Cliff Gillies who again had some very fine actors in his cast. As in “Ladies Day” the principle Characters in this play are four women while the men in the cast play a number of smaller cameo roles. The talented cast included Pearl (Helen Haygarth) the mother figure who has a devastating secret, Jan (Tracey Holmes-Smith) who finally discovers passion with boyfriend Joe played by Rob Darby near Ayres Rock.  Shelley (Chloe Hughes) has spent most of her money, only to realise she is left with nothing but an empty life, and Linda (Joanne Wasilew) who is gullible but good hearted and is struggling with the burden of the money.  The ladies were more than ably supported by the men Rob Darby, Pete Roney Cliff Gillies and Mark Haygarth playing a number of smaller roles between them and Mark and Cliff made very good Drag Queens. The audience were treated to a number of very enjoyable different characters from the actors who all suited their roles very well performing together as a team with no weak links, also their comic timing and facial expressions were very good. Diction was excellent from all on stage, the Australian accents from the men were very good and maintained well, dialogue flowed easily at just the right pace meaning the action could be followed. Getting all these elements spot on is crucial to the success of this play a task the cast achieved extremely effectively.

The set was a blank square stage in the middle of the hall; it is surprising what can be achieved by just using props and lighting to set the scene or upending a suitcase to look like you are sat in plane seats which was all very innovative, well done to the Director and Stage Manager Matt Hughes. Costumes suited the roles well and added to the characterizations, resulting in a very fine comedy production combined with some very poignant background stories which made you laugh one minute then stop and think the next which provided a most enjoyable entertaining evening for the audience to experience.

Well done and congratulations to Director Cliff Gillies and to all involved in this production and thank you for inviting me I had an extremely enjoyable evening.
 

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