Stepping Out

To the uninitiated, this title conjures up the image of a full-blown musical show.  But in the event, it was mainly a play, with a musical finale, about a group of women – and one man – who attend weekly tap dance classes in a dingy church hall.  Disparate in their attitudes to life, and very mixed in their dance capabilities, they show little in the way of coordination in both manners and steps.  But in the end, they coalesce as a group to perform a passable final tap routine somewhat reminiscent of the closing sequence of ‘A Chorus Line’.

To any amateur director, knowing well the difficulties in persuading men to tread the boards, a play with a cast of nine women and one man is little short of manna from heaven.  But although amusing, this is not a great play and the performers had to work hard to make a success of it.  The key to getting the best out of what’s there is the establishment from the outset of the wide diversity of characters, their relationships and their interactions around which the humour of the play is constructed.  The Swanage cast did this very well, and they combined most effectively to extract every giggle available to them.  Maintaining a healthy pace throughout, the one-liners came thick and fast.

Long-suffering dance teacher Mavis, (Karen Woolley bravely nursing a heavy summer cold), patiently circumvents the social pursuits of her pupils, who much prefer to natter, and sets out to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear in preparation for an upcoming charity gala at which they will perform.  Prominent amongst the colourful characters in the class were Vera, (Pauline Windle) – neat, snobbish and preoccupied with hygiene – Maxine, (Julia Gadenne) –a showy business woman in the rag-trade – and Andy, (Victoria Jones) – nervous, timid and unhappily married.  Caustic comments from pianist Mrs Fraser, (Pat Jones), were good for a laugh or two, while shy, self-effacing Geoffrey, (Ben Banks), shed his inhibitions to star in the finale.

Since the bare surrounds of the backstage Mowlem, could be viewed as resembling a dingy church hall, not much was needed in the way of set decoration to create an appropriate atmosphere.  However the resulting cavernous space, while good for dance, did not do a lot for sound projection from stage, and it was sometimes necessary to strain to hear the spoken word.

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