Stags and Hens

It was my first time seeing the classic ‘Stags and Hens’ from the pen of Willy Russell (of Blood Brothers fame). Inevitably given its author it was set in a night club in Liverpool round about the 70’s and as such the language was of the era with liberal use of ‘adult’ language but nevertheless not offensive.

Firstly a word about the set – two toilets, male and female complete with cubicles, wash basin and (strangely) a chair in each. These two ‘conveniences’ were down of a corridor with stairs leading down to them where all of the action took place. Very posh ‘ladies’ and ‘gents’ neon lights in appropriate colouring were in the corridor.

Clever zonal lighting allowed action to flow between the gents and the ladies with the opposite being in ‘freeze frame’ as it were.

The story revolves around the girls on a ‘hen night’ celebrating the upcoming nuptials of ‘Linda’ (Erin Atack) to ‘Dave’ (Jamie Gallagher) and the fact that the stags and hens both end up accidentally at the same night club at the same time. Further complicated by the fact that the singer of the minor celebrity pop group, ‘Peter’ (Matthew Pegden) was an erstwhile boyfriend of Linda.

Each character had their own specific personality – 'Linda', on her last night of freedom is questioning whether she goes through with the marriage when she hooks up again with 'Peter'; ‘Maureen’ (Jess Henderson), the somewhat frumpy and ‘needy’ friend not used to drink getting very vocal on the vodka; ‘Bernadette’ (Shannon Piercy Breward) and ‘Carol’ (Jeni Langley), both local friends who are determined to keep 'Linda' safe and on the right path. Finally ‘Frances’ (Hannah Daglish) the loyal ‘best friend’ who is not above a ‘barbed’ comment or two.

The ’Stags’ similarly were a disparate group of friends each with their own characteristics. ‘Robbie’ (Don Ward), the ‘father figure’ of the group desperate to get his ‘leg over’; ‘Billy’ the easily impressed and easily led one; ‘Kav’ (Gary Manson) – the somewhat un-streetwise friend with a talent for artistry (which led to some fine graffitied drawings on the toilet cubicles); 'Dave' who doubled up as the groups ‘roadie’ – 'Dave' himself had no dialogue apart from retching noises being sick and sitting soporifically at the end of the night totally inebriated; ‘Eddy’ (Peter Dawson) the thuggish member of the stags and self-appointed spokesman when impressing his (often unwanted) views on either the stags or the hens.

Finally ‘Peter’ the formerly local singer of minor pop sensation group on a tour whose efforts to rekindle a relationship with ‘Linda’ led to the often humorous, often poignant dialogue throughout the wordy play.

A word about accents – each cast member had authentic ‘Scouse’ accents (with a softened accent by ‘Peter’ due to his years lining in London. I must admit it took me a little while to attune my ears to the Liverpudlian twang but once I did enjoyed the natural humour and charm of their dialogue.

A very wordy but well done play by the eleven accomplished actors and actresses – well done.

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