The Rise and Fall of Little Voice

Jim Cartwright’s popular play was given a polished airing at the Thwaites Empire Theatre by the talented team at the Drama Club. I have to say that Jim Cartwright is a playwright I have never got on with but it can’t be denied that his plays are unfathomably popular with amateur theatre societies and - perhaps more importantly - audiences alike. The play tells the tale of shy and retiring Laura, nicknamed ‘Little Voice’ (or ‘LV’ for short) given her propensity for keeping herself to herself. Her blowsy, domineering mother Mari is the reason for this retreat from the real world and LV prefers instead to hide in her bedroom listening to her dad’s old records. When seedy would-be showbiz agent Ray appears on the scene, things start to change.

It is perhaps worth noting at the outset what a wonderful set the Drama Club constructed as the arena for the drama as it unfolded. The lovingly crafted home with its realistic kitchen and sitting room downstairs, with LV’s bedroom upstairs, was a minor triumph. Access onto the alleyway outside (vital for Billy’s cherry picker) looked effective and the exit onto the front street was also skilfully done. The set was dressed accurately and gave a real flavour of the down at heel Northern terraced house where Mari held sway. Great work from the stage team there. As always with a Drama Club production, the lighting plot was skilfully woven in to the piece and created some impressive effects. The use of the space front of tabs for the nightclub scenes worked well and had the effect of bringing the drama out into the audience. Technically speaking, this was another gold star Drama Club success.

Kate Roberts as Mari gave a solid performance, successfully drawing out the character of the faded floozy who floats through life on a cloud of alcoholic fumes, a brash and noisy whirlwind of a woman who desperately clings to the hope that the next man she meets will be ‘the one’. Kate managed to breathe life into Cartwright’s rather leaden dialogue and soared above the so-so script to add colour and character to the role. Some rather wonderful costume choices (Mari is a permanent ‘wardrobe malfunction’) also painted a vivid picture of this monstrous woman.

Little Voice herself was played with a measure of intensity by Beth Turnbull and her transformation from shrinking violet into singing sensation was very well done indeed, the contrast being all the more successful given Kate’s thoughtful take on the role. LV shrinks away from the outside world and takes comfort from her late father’s collection of LPs which she listens to alone in her bedroom. Given the state of the house’s electrics, there are often blown fuses and overloaded sockets due to her mania for music. Given the nature of her father’s taste in music (Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey, Liza Minnelli, Edith Piaf, Barbra Streisand) I’m not sure why these obvious signposts to her father’s sexual proclivities play no part in the narrative whatsoever: it would at least go some way to explaining the disastrous relationship with Mari. In a play which is neither flesh, fish nor fowl, the audience is certainly given a record collection made up of not particularly good red herrings...

Ray Say was given the full ‘Michael Caine’ treatment by Clive Stack who exuded slimy deviousness by the bucketful: so much so, it’s a wonder he didn’t leave a shimmering trail in his wake. Ray inveigles his way into the household purely to get his hands on LV’s vocal chords and make his fortune on the club circuit, thus dashing Mari’s vain hopes of finding a man interested in her for own dubious charms alone. His partner in crime Lou Boo was an essay in shuffling seediness from Andrew Smith, nightclub compère par excellence. The wig was a lovely touch and his ineptitude was given full exposure in front of tabs in the nightclub scenes. Lou Boo’s attempts at warming up the crowd were just as cringingly awful as they should have been and very nicely played. 

LV’s would-be love interest Billy was a wonderful exercise in awkward charm from James Lilley. Where LV has her catalogue of camp classics to fall back on, Billy’s diversion from the real world comes in the form dreaming of creating a wonderful lighting display (I’m not making this up dear reader) and given this fascinating character quirk, the journey towards the inevitable fusion of music and some disco lights for a heartwarming finale is assured. James managed to elevate (literally, with some comical cherry picker manoeuvrings) the character beyond the winsome stereotype with some typically incisive Lilley-esque touches. Completing the line-up, Jonathan Mallinson was a great as next door neighbour Sam whose dialogue seldom varied from ‘OK’ but who could shuffle bemusedly to the Jackson 5 like a trouper. The unfortunate incident which followed on from a surfeit of alcohol was also very well done and must have taken a bit of practise: suffice to say it brought a new meaning to ‘projection’ in the theatre!

This was a play which I frankly find rather bemusing. I’m not really sure what it’s trying to ‘say’ - and as it’s from the pen of Jim Cartwright, one assumes it is trying to say something - with its calculatedly arch dialogue. When the best of the humour comes from some rather ‘Lower Sixth’ stabs at comical character names (Ray Say, Lou Boo, F. Hoff etc) it’s difficult to really call it a comedy but as there’s little else at work on stage other than rather frantic attempts to raise a smile all evening, it’s hasn’t really got much in the way of dramatic weight going for it either. I didn’t really get the impression that much time had gone into mastering the mimicry of the various singing divas - and at least a cursory listen to Edith Piaf might have been in order for LV’s ‘Je ne regrette rien’ which was pretty clunky - which did rathe fudge the issue of why it was that Ray was bowled over by his potential money-spinning nightingale. That said, Beth’s impressive voice made the songs very much her own, which was just as winning in its own way.

However, I mustn’t let my little voice of dissent hold sway when I’m very much in the minority. The Drama Club did a sterling job of bringing this little tale to life. A marvellous set, great costumes and a brilliantly achieved final effect when the electrics finally gave out all went towards creating a great evening’s entertainment. The thought and care which had gone into the production really paid off and the society is to be applauded for an all round display of talent. My thanks go to all at the Drama Club for a very strong showing and an impressive display of live entertainment.

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