The Boadicea of Britannia Street

‘The Boadicea of Britannia Street’ a funny, emotive play written by Ade Morris, is a story about four women; ‘Fran Lamb’ widow, poet and cat lover and a writer for the ‘local rag’, the ‘Winkham Weekly Snooze’, who decides to start up her own creative writing group.  She is joined at the Winkham Memorial Institute, firstly by a panicked P.E. Teacher ‘Penny’; then by shy Librarian ‘Janet’ and ‘Annie’, a housewife whose mysterious anxiety causes her to substitute the correct words for entirely the wrong ones. From an unpromising beginning and over the course of a few weeks, the ‘Winkham Rebels’ form plans to write and perform a play inspired by the courage of Boadicea, but ‘life’ keeps getting in the way! So after consuming a lot of tea and vodka, they all face their own demons, overcome their enemies and then move on as friends....

This was my first visit to The Toby Carvery and my first chance to see Ormskirk Theatre Company in action and I hope it won’t be my last.

The play was expertly directed by Gary Simpson, who had at his disposal a strong and capable cast of four female and one male actor who, not only had the ability to bring to life their wonderfully believable individual characters, but were able to ‘fuse’ those individual characters together to work ever so well as a team....well done one and all.

Let’s talk cast ....all four ladies took us on ‘individual journeys’ .....

Jackie Roscoe played the role of ‘Fran’.  “Fran’s” journey is one of ‘active journalist’ to a ‘lonely widow living alone’ after the death of her husband. Unable to have had children and now dealing with a second bout of cancer, she sees her life fading away. In an attempt to ‘add’ some sparkle back to the everyday grind, she decides to form a creative writing group. Jackie portrayed this role really well, great diction, great characterisation never out of character....be ever so proud Jackie!

Lisa O’Reilly played the part of ‘Penny Tew’, a panicked PE Teacher, whose occupation is apparently borne out of the ‘fear of alcoholism’, who hates children, who hasn’t got time to read books, who finds herself ‘pregnant’ after a ‘brief affair’ with the Head of Maths, a pregnancy that she is unable to tell her mother about!  The ‘story’ is told from Penny’s point of view and she narrates all the action! Lisa was a ‘perfect fit’ for this role... again great diction, good stage presence, a really well judged performance... again be proud!

Lesley Roper played our quiet, shy Librarian ‘Janet’.   Janet gave us a lovely performance as the shy, retiring vegetarian librarian until she gained enough confidence to ‘leave the closet’ and inform the group that she was a lesbian.  Again, a well judged believable performance; the scene with Anne when she persuades her to kiss, looked comfortable, totally believable and was handled really well.... well done!

Annie, the final member of disparate quartet was played by Hellen James.  Hellen’s journey took us from   housewife, mother of 2 grown up kids to ‘abused woman’ living in a broken marriage with Keith her cruel husband who beats her!   There is little or no doubt it is Anne’s optimism and her past that ‘galvanises’ this group and encourages the formation of the ‘Winkham Rebels’.  Hellen gave us a great performance ... her ability to repeatedly mispronounce words was impressive and provided some great comedic moments. She also gave us a real ‘lump in the throat moment’ when asked ‘WHAT WAS YOUR SAFE PLACE’ and the story about her Grandmother - ‘THAT WAS MY SAFE PLACE’ - Be ever so proud Hellen.

Let’s not forget our lone male.... our Policeman Joe Coyne. Looked the part and ‘word perfect’ well done Joe. 

A single set was uncomplicated as was the Lights and Sound...yet provided all that was required to make this play work.  Some great props and costumes - including’ a ‘pantomime cow’ or should I say ‘horse’ were included and added so much to the overall production.

The pace did slow ‘just a little’ in Act 2 when a number of prompts were needed, but overall I would say that those present received a great play that not only dealt with some really serious matters, some very emotional moments, yet it provided us with lots of laughs and a feeling that we’d been well entertained.

Thank you so much for the inviting my wife and I, look forward to seeing you all again soon.

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