Stepping Out

Upon my travels I tap, tap, tapped my way into Burtonwood Catholic Club to see a performance of 'Stepping Out', the Richard Harris comedy that remains as true to life as ever, over 30 years after its premiere in 1984. Based around troubled dance teacher Mavis, who strives to bring out the best in her tap class pupils. The show opens to a host of 'left feet' and progresses on a journey. This see's everyone turn from inexperienced tap beginners to star spangled performers at a charity concert. Although along the way we see many confrontations, stresses and strains on a personal level in everybody's lives.

The class is made up of a vast array of people from a shop owner to an Inland Revenue worker, from the weight conscious to the busy body. Each escaping from their trying lives for one evening a week. Difficult families, unhappy marriages, stressful jobs and widowed into loneliness form the background of the ultimately supportive relationships that take place.

This comedy was full of some delightful characterisations that had been extremely well thought about and cast. Each gave a confident performance all through the show and, in the end, achieved a pretty solid final dance routine. This should be highly commended as none of the cast had actually 'tapped' before the show and must have put a huge amount of work into achieving the final number.

This piece was well suited for this company, from the performance space to the actors. The comical moments in this play come from the hints at life outside the tap class, there were many very well crafted comic moments throughout, which got the required response from the audience. The characters persona on stage was very good and the way they interacted with each other was impeccable. However the way Mavis seemed to deliver her lines directly to the audience every time was a little distracting. Maybe it was done because the room would have been a wall of mirrors, I'm unsure. Also a performance without the need for a prompt was a great added extra, it just echo's the amount of work that had gone into this show.

The set worked extremely well, along with being designed and painted excellently. The sound and lighting was apt for the performance, along with the friendly front of house crew adding to a enjoyable experience. I would like to thank Burtonwood  Amateur Music & Drama Society for their kind invitation and wish them every success in future performances.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.