Last Tango in Whitby

The play written by Manchester born,  Mike Harding, was premiered in Nottingham in the 1990 and went on to tour around Britain. It tells of a group of friends, mainly senior citizens on their annual coach trip to Whitby. For Pat, recently widowed this year’s trip is tinged with sadness, but she is determined to enjoy herself with her old friends, and Lynda Phillips certainly brought the character alive with her portrayal. With her dear friend, innocent little Jessie, (Karen Long) they laugh and think that maybe this year they might find a “bit on the side”.

The scene opened on the coach, and we were introduced to some of  the guests, outspoken Kathleen (Kay Briggs) & the kind hearted Jimmy and Joan, (Graham Puttock and Glynis Hunt).

At the hotel we meet  Phil  and Edna,   'The Shangri-Las', who provide entertainment in the form of old-time dancing. Phil played by Peter Hawkes  is trapped in a dead marriage to Edna (Pauline Phoenix),  however during Phil’s  first dance  together with  Pat they feel an unexpected spark of mutual attraction, much to the disapproval of the others.  During the week, we see the guests all enjoying themselves with their evening’s  non-stop dancing, fancy dress competitions and talent contest.  We are entertained by Henry (Kenny Sayer) telling his tall stories and  expertly and hilariously  playing the spoons,  and the two ‘old dears’  Alice (Jean Davis) and Edie (Katie Hawkes) performing their armchair tap dance routine.

Despite the efforts of their well meaning friends to put a stop to it, Pat & Phil decide to take the plunge  and start a new life together.

The two waitresses in the hotel, (Rosa Ledden and Victoria Hyland) were particularly  good,  working well together in their small cameo role, and to the honeymooners Matt and Zoe Bendall – very convincing!!

All the cast  worked very hard in their characterisations and with the many dances they  all had to learn.   I did however feel that the dialogue, particularly on the opening coach scene when the characters were effectively introducing themselves,  was sometimes slightly lost  in their efforts to keep up  the pace and their Northern accents.  The audience certainly appreciated the, if somewhat slightly risqué,  comedy writing of Mike Harding.

The set, was minimalistic because of the small acting space at the John Peel, but I thought the revolving back flat worked well,  helping to ensure quick scene changes.  The glitter ball  in the ballroom lighting was spot on for the era.    

Congratulations go to Tory on this her directing debut for an adult SODS show, (having previously directed the SODS juniors for the last 4 years);  to Cassandra for  choreographing  the numerous  dance routines and to all the cast and crew for an entertaining evening.

Thank you for inviting us and we will look forward to Calamity Jane in a couple of months.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.