Shakers

This was my first visit to Chorley Little Theatre and I don’t think the name is really appropriate, as it’s actually quite a nice size and very well appointed to boot!  The play Shakers is one of a series of plays by writers John Godber and Jane Thornton, Teechers & Bouncers being two of the others in the series you may be familiar with.  Set in a ‘trendy’ 1980’s cocktail bar, it depicts the lives of the 4 waitresses who work in the bar along with parodies of the customers who frequent it.  The play only has 4 cast members who switch between characters from start to finish and moves along at a fantastic pace from start to finish.

So to the cast, Adele played by Emily Philbin, Carole played by Joanna Gillespie, Mel, played by Sarah Rosental and Nicky played by Sally-Ann Vosper.  It would be totally unfair to pick out any one member of this brilliant cast as all four were absolutely exceptional in my view, with lovely interaction between the main characterisations and superb interpretations of the ‘customers’; the leery drunken blokes were particularly impressive and had me in stitches, as did the Asda checkout girls, brilliant!

I was amazed at the quality and professionalism of the performance which showed an understanding and empathy which a good few of the cast would not remember, having not been around to witness the yuppie excesses of the ‘80’s, which for I my sins, I was....

Anyway, back to the production, the set looked fantastic, fairly simple but very effective in the transformation from scene to scene.  The lighting was also very effective, with effects which reflected the mood of each scene.  Always nice when the person designing set and lighting are the same person to achieve the perfect look, so well done to Paul Carr.

The whole performance was slick and very tidy from start to finish, with very quick and seamless scene changes, so well done to Siobhan Edge and her team.

This was a brilliantly directed piece with the characters and interpretation of the writing brought to life in an impressive and believable way, Zoe Duffin-Jones should be pleased and proud of this production, which I must say is one of the most enjoyable plays I have seen during my time as a NODA representative.

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