Ladies Down Under

 
  The very entertaining “Ladies Down Under” by Amanda Whittington is an excellent sequel to her very popular play “Ladies Day” where we first meet fish packers Pearl, Linda, Jan and Shelley who each won £100,000 on an accumulator at the races. They have now decided to take a trip of a lifetime to Australia to meet up with Jan’s boyfriend Joe and in this very funny, poignant yet hopeful play, we look at how winning the money has affected each of their lives in different ways and how they learn there's more to life than money
This was another outstanding production from Wigan Little Theatre steered again by the talented  Director of “Ladies Day” Christine Armstrong, who had at her disposal some very fine actors, producing spot on and lovely comedic yet poignant performances . The story revolves around the same four very different female characters we first met in “Ladies Day”, while the men in the cast again play a number eclectic cameo roles. The cast included Maureen Schofield as Mother Figure, Pearl who is hiding a life changing frightening secret from her three friends who were, Jan played by Tracy Dawson, who finally discovers passion with boyfriend Joe while on a visit to Ayres Rock, then there is irreverent and outspoken Shelley, played by Ayesha Morris who has fritted away most of her money, only to realise she is left with nothing but an empty life, and  the last of the four but definitely not least, we have likeable but  gullible and good hearted Linda played by Stacey Vernon, who is struggling with the burden of her money.  The ladies were excellently supported by the men in the cast namely John Churnside and Mark Lloyd  who played a number of very different character roles between them  and I must say they both made very entertaining Drag Queens in the very colourful and enjoyable Mardi Gras scene near the end of the play which included the  proverbial song “I Am What I Am” from the 1983 Tony award winning show “La Cage aux Folles”which the audience enjoyed very much, I certainly did, I found myself singing along with the music. Diction was excellent from all on stage and both men produced very good Australian as well as other accents which were maintained nicely. Dialogue flowed well at just the right pace meaning the action could be followed easily. The audience were treated to very enjoyable different characters from all the actors who all suited their roles brilliantly and performed as a team with no weak links, their comic timing and facial expressions were excellent meaning there was lots of laughter. Getting all these elements spot on is crucial to the success of this type of comedy play, a task the cast managed to achieve extremely effectively.
 The set consisted of a screen on the back wall of the stage and scenes were changed by the use of props and projected pictures  each depicting the location of the said scene, this meant there was good smooth transition between scenes which kept the play at just right pace, and each change was accompanied by a piece of music applicable to the action, this was all very effective. So well done to set designer Peter Hall, Stage Manager Paul Dawson, the excellent technical crew and all backstage workers. Costumes suited the roles and the setting of the play well and added to the characterizations , resulting in a very fine comedy production combined with some very poignant background stories which made you laugh one minute then stop and think the next, resulting in a most enjoyable entertaining evening for the audience to experience. 
Well done and congratulations to all involved in this production and thank you for inviting us, we had an extremely enjoyable friendly evening.
       

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