The Rise and Fall of Little Voice

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is set in a northern town in the 1980s. Little Voice sits in her room all day listening to her father’s vinyl record collection. She escapes the noise and stress of the real world, from her mother, by listening to Shirley Bassey, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe and so forth..

Little Voice was adequately acted and sung by Sian Leigh Webb. Who cares if they don’t sound too much like the stars portrayed. We could single them out by the songs and Sian has a very lyrically toned voice. However, Little Voice hides a secret – the girl can sing and dub any voice in any style she wants…as long as she’s in the privacy of her own room, of course. Downstairs, her mother, played by Lynney Evans, who enjoys a drink in the morning, afternoon and any time of day really, whilst flirting with any Tom, Dick, Harry, or Ray Say she could get her hands on.

Little Voice follows the struggles and successes – but mainly struggles – of a not-so-typical northern family living in a not-so-typical world. Featuring one of the smartest uses of a stage I think I’ve ever seen in amateur theatre - excellent stage design by Trevor Mumford. Little Voice is arranged around two levels: the main focus of the stage was the front room-cum-kitchen, where mum drinks, comes in from a night out, and answers her brand-new and eagerly awaited telephone. It’s also the scene of the greatest tragedy within the play, the second half is electrifying! Literally, Fantastic props, to period, even down to things in cupboards and a flashing extension socket and fuse box exploding on time!! Well-done props team, Wendy Snelgrove and Claire Bushell, accompanied by perfect sounds and lighting by Nick Farrow, Grace King sound and Sean Drury lighting. Above this scene, we find Little Voice’s bedroom, where we hear all the classic songs. It also plays home to the development of one of the sweetest love stories ever to grace a theatre as Little Voice and telephone repairman/light enthusiast Billy share a most awkward yet endearing relationship.

Mari, LV's mother, is played with almost boundless energy here by Lynney Evans. She has almost the entire script for the first 25 minutes or so. Little Voice is essentially a play about women, particularly LV and her Mum. But there's also a fine performance from Clare Snashall as Mari's friend and neighbour, Sadie. On the other side of the gender divide, there's excellent support in the guise of talent agent, Ray Say, who is basically a cross between a second-rate crooner and first-rate snake. Dan Coles as Billy provides a suitably awkward and diffident telephone engineer, who overcomes his shyness to court LV. Roy Brown (Mr Boo) neatly captures the persona of a northern club compere.

In many ways, this is an entertaining production, and by any standard not an easy one, but very tastefully directed. The Rise and Fall of Little Voice was an enjoyable spree up north with plenty of laughs, tears, and horrendous puns

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