Me and my Girl

Me and my Girl was originally written in 1937 and was very successful. It was revised in 1984 by Stephen Fry and continues to entertain audiences, now in its 86th year.

The story concerns a young and unashamedly Cockney lad, Bill Snibson, played with considerable comedic skills by Daniel Ferguson. This character finds himself unexpectedly to be the heir to the Earl of Hareford, and a very wealthy landowner. He is presented to the astonished family by the family solicitor, Mr. Parchester, played in a suitably upright and self-important way by Alfie Rains. The executors of the late Earl’s will (the Duchess of Dene, and Sir John Tremayne, played excellently by Elaine Bishop and Steve Sale) must be certain that the new Earl will be socially acceptable, and set about educating him. The problem is that Bill is proud of his Lambeth accent and his Lambeth pals, and deeply in love with Sally Smith, a chirpy Cockney lass played brilliantly by Millie Sheppard. To complicate matters, the rather amoral daughter of the Duchess, Lady Jaqueline (played well as a sexy coquette by Daniella Bridge), dumps her drippy aristocratic boyfriend the Right Hon. Gerald Bolingbroke (with Ben Atkinson very convincing in this role) and sets her sights on Bill as her future husband.

Cue plenty of comedic scenes, ably assisted along the way by Heidi Clayton, Chris Sheppard, and Charlotte Scorror playing family hangers-on, and a decent sized-chorus  playing lots of cameo roles such as footmen, servants, policemen, butlers and cockneys.

The action flowed nicely, directed ably by Adam Bishop, using a simple set consisting of flats and back projections. The projected picture gallery was particularly effective with the ancestors moving within their frames at one point. One mild criticism of the direction that I have is that minor characters occasionally had rather amusing business, but care must be taken that it doesn’t attract attention away from the main action on the stage.

All principals sang well and the chorus harmonies came over too. Samantha Kerby’s musical direction was excellent, and the band were tight and well-managed, and at no time overwhelmed the voices on stage.

Choreography was good and the audience certainly enjoyed the Lambeth Walk when it spilled out into the auditorium.

Costumes were mainly sourced by the cast, I believe, and were colorful and generally period appropriate. Props were good, with lots of period luggage pieces.

Stage management was slick and smooth under the direction of Jessica Smith, and the sound levels were generally good. It was occasionally difficult to catch the dialogue of unmiked minor characters.

Lighting was good although at one point when the stage was split into two by the lights, some chorus were left in the dark.

Programme and posters were of good quality and eligible for the NODA competition.

The Guildhall in Grantham is a lovely theatre and the community are lucky to have such an amenity. The hospitality shown by the front-of-house was excellent, and GOS were very welcoming to me.

I congratulate them on a very successful show.

 

 

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.