Stepping Out

Stepping Out catalogues the complicated lives of seven women, one man, their teacher and pianist at a weekly tap-dancing class. The stakes are raised when ‘The Mavis Turner Tappers’ are asked to take part in a charity gala, so somehow they have to raise their game to do themselves justice in their first public performance.

The plays creator, Richard Harris, firmly roots his tale in the late 1980’s with its references to the talked about faces of the time and customs of society but this production had been brought up to date. Quite a few directors make (what seems to be) an impulsive choice to time hop a piece by updating references mentioned during one or two of the conversations within the script, though more often than not, something usually suffers as a result. Often its biggest ache is losing the intended sense of culture of the piece but Sale Nomads interpretation thoroughly worked with not a single detail feeling thirty years old.      

Not only had the decision been made to bring the piece up to date, we got a relocation of it too, not far, only from London to ‘somewhere near here’ (as stated in the programme). A relocation can be equally as problematic to a piece as updating it (just take a look at the film as a prime example!) – but that’s not the case here. Direction by Alice Gregr has been sensitively crafted and the decision to rework the piece to resonate today, in the north, was not made lightly nor for trivial reasons. Every aspect had been fine combed to make her decisions consistent whilst still ensuring the writer’s objectives remain true.

One could oppose the legwarmers, lycra and leotards for seeming slightly misplaced in a 2015 dance class, though for me, it still worked as it added to the innocence of the characters. Plus, vintage is all the rage at the moment, walking through Manchester’s Northern Quarter, many people appear to have been time hopped themselves!  

Although Richard Harris crafted some wonderfully interesting characters for this play which were ably brought to life by this ensemble cast, the script itself poses difficulties which make the play feel fragmented and persists a stilted flow, both the director and cast did well to keep the action alive from every angle despite this.

Rose is a character which can be a problematic one for casting, tweaking the role to suit Jenny Hollinshead was cleverly and agreeably attended to. Kathleen Valentine excelled as Sylvia, delivering natural comedy is a forte for Kathleen whose performance I significantly enjoyed. Vera, played by Jane Bancroft, another one of the loftier characters, is the newbie to the class and mastered those iconic one liners though the sentiment of her final moment felt watered-down in comparison.

The cantankerous pianist, Glenda Fraser, played by Chris Hutson certainly had the grouchy quality nailed though more of a sarcastic edge would have aided more of the humour to translate. Sandie Cowle gave a terrific enactment as Dorothy and gave us the balance of simplicity/naturalistic at the perfect tone. Grainne Wiggan as Andy built up her tension throughout the play and exploded her fury with dramatic effect.

Alice Gregr stepped in to play Maxine with less than a fortnight to go and you’d never guess this was the case, the programme pointed this out plus we were informed of this late change to the casting via an announcement at the start of the show which almost felt like an apology for something we were going to see which was unnecessary. Alice was as equally polished as the rest, you’d never assume for one second that she hadn’t been playing that role since day one of rehearsals.   

Geoffrey, the only man amongst the group, was nicely underplayed by Dave Moreton offering chuckles in the correct parts and refreshingly delivered the role for what it is and without force. The same goes for Laura Morley as Lynne, nothing forced – just simple and exact. Diane Douglas had the responsibility of holding the troupe together as Mavis which she handled with aplomb and no, the tapping teacher isn’t left out as she gets her own ‘drama’ too though we’re left to come to our own conclusion of the outcome!

Each character has their own moment to shine throughout the play and each member of the cast delivered. That same theme was explored in the final routine when we jump twelve months ahead, each character was given their own signature (recognisable) tune to offer a suggestion to each outcome of the stories we’ve seen. One note here, a technical one, would be for the music during the final routine to have been a bit louder, same for the volume on the electric piano throughout the play too, which was a little quiet.

This choice of play with its casting was verging on genius for this society as everyone was ideally suited to their parts and the club house lends itself incredibly well to the staging of this piece.

The finest production I’ve seen by Sale nomads to date, many congratulations!

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