Stepping Out

Stepping Out is a warm and funny play about the lives, laughs, and loves of a group of women (and one man) attending a weekly tap-dance class in a dingy church hall. Written by Richard Harris in the 80’s and reflects the sentiments of that time. Director Andrea Hall made a brave attempt to bring the play a little more up to date for today’s audience, but the characters are still worthy of our empathy and understanding in a more modern world. Stepping Out is a good play. It has intricately created characters, a great script, humour that tickled the audience, and dramatic moments that certainly made everyone hold their breath.  I first saw Stepping Out in Leatherhead’s Thorndike Theatre about 1983, before it went to the Westend and I felt then that this play would run and run. Now it is available for the amateur stage again and I certainly hope to see other productions in East Midlands Region but for now, Skegness Musical Theatre Company has set the bar very high.

The script involves quite moving and emotional aspects of the lives of the characters. As all amateur groups know, you can meet these people in almost every class running today. The need to socialise and improve our lives can mean that joiners have perhaps greater expectations than can be achieved through a dance class, yet this play demonstrates beautifully how a misfit group of individuals can escape the drudgery of their lives for a few hours every week and come together to create something worthy.

Ex-professional dancer Mavis, (Jo Fitzwilliams) runs the class for this varied group of adult learners.  Jo played Mavis with great style, her relationship with Mrs Fraser and the hints about her money worries and home life were gently brought to our attention, very well done. Her dip in confidence affects all the group at times, yet they bolster her as she has supported them.  Jo also choreographed the tap routines. I especially liked that the group gradually got better and better through the play. Very challenging aspect but handled very well by all the players.

Mavis runs the class with the help of the demanding Mrs Fraser, a matriarchal battle axe who thinks Maxine really couldn’t manage without her. Sandra Colman gives a wonderful performance as Mavis's prickly mother-figure and the dagger like looks she gives had the audience both ooo-ing and laughing. I enjoyed her dance performance too.

A cheerfully brassy Sylvia played by Gayle Howitt-Bradley brought humour to her role with ease. Her body confidence interpreted by her dance moves and sassy nature depicted by her dialogue brought many laughs from the audience.

Rose, delightfully underplayed by Jean Taylor, has to wear a wig to hide her hair loss following medical treatment. Her confidence grows through the play and her character blossoms within the group. Rose has a carefree attitude to life and has some very funny lines which Jean articulated with superb comic timing.

Andi, a plain do-gooder with no confidence also brings some of the darker moments that we witness as part of the character’s lives. Rebecca Sylvester gave a master class in facial expressions and body language. She doesn’t like being touched – and it’s the big reveal as to why and that brings the shock factor.  Rebecca said far more with her acting choices than with the dialogue, I thought her performance was magnificent.

Vera played by Director Andrea Hall, the snobby opinionated control freak brought many full stops to the action. By that I mean the humour was brought by her saying something nasty or revealing and making us pause to see what will happen next. Andrea played Vera as a tragic figure who eventually reveals that her home life has dark secrets which she is hiding from.

Maxine played well by Natasha Connor, a wheeler-dealer who can wrangle a profit from any opportunity. Her confidence and attitude to life seem hard as nails, yet she has a softer side and comforts and supports those around her.

Joanna Thain stole many scenes with her portrayal of Dorothy a Social Security worker. She feels she has to defend herself against accusations and this brings many comic moments and scene stealing reactions which had the audience chuckling.

Lynne who is a young nurse who needs to get away from the terrible experiences she has had at work and her nervous exhaustion is conveyed perfectly by Alisha Coote. I loved her interactions with the other characters and the way she portrayed her growing confidence within the dancing.

Geoffrey, the lone male of the class played by the very tall Connor Ratcliffe.  His acting felt just right for an awkward youngish male in this diverse group of women. His interactions felt meaningful, despite his dialogue not actually developing the character very much. Andrea has directed this understated character very well and Connor was excellent in the role.

As the play progresses, the class’s dancing improves to such an extent that by the climax, a grand charity show performance, they have been transformed into triumphant tappers, worthy of any chorus line. The ensemble is rounded out by Sarah Eastwood and Debbie Hudson as additional characters and dancers. Stepping Out, tells us that people may be from different backgrounds, and have different stories, but everyone and anyone can be a victim and despite the many facades that we all put up, underneath the most confident, self-assured person, there might be a cry for help waiting to come out. 

The simple set specifically built for touring was excellent. Just enough elements to hint at a small town hall, with screening, imaginative posters, and practical seating. The extra stage apron for the piano enabled the dancing to take the whole width f the stage and added dimension to the hall.  The lighting and sound effects complimented the action well and the sound balance was excellent. Lighting Richard Hall, sound Tanya Brackley and Paul Schofield. I felt the scene changes were a little slow at times, but this did not detract from the action.

Thank you all once again for the warm welcome on the hot June evening, I was pleased to meet you all after your performance and to share in your enjoyment of this story.  You all seemed to relish performing and I commend you for taking this production on tour. Very well done.

 

 

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