"St Neots Players backed a favourite by staging Amanda Whittington’s Ladies Day for their September show. The form was good for this am-dram perennial, but how did it finish," says our theatre reviewer Eugene Smith.
And that’s the limit of my racing knowledge. Fortunately non-bookies had plenty to enjoy in this production, starting with the audience being seated at cabaret-style tables rather than in rows, which helped engender the feeling of a celebration.
The play concerns four factory workers who mark one of their number’s retirement with a day at Ascot during which they reveal - often unwittingly - secrets about themselves as the champagne and sausage rolls flow.
As the title suggests the play is very much about the female quartet, with fine support from Oliver J Brace as a hapless gambler, Scott Robertson’s scalper, Paul Riddy as factory supervisor Joe, and Don McKay in dual roles as a perpetually hungry jockey and a significant other to one of the ladies (leading to the play’s best dramatic reveal).
Special mention must go to George Kelly as a washed-up, alcoholic, lecherous TV personality (just imagine), who perfectly captured Jim’s underlying nastiness.
I’m not convinced that the play is particularly well written. Although stereotypes abound in real life, fiction gives opportunities for deeper exploration. Despite Glenys Shaw’s’s deft direction, there is an air of predictability about both plot and characters. And the pop-culture references have not aged well.
But how wonderfully the main cast were brought to life, transcending the play’s sometimes narrow parameters.
Gillian Haverson showed us Pearl’s heartbreak without resorting to mawkishness, and Linda Riddy morphed effortlessly from lonely mother into amusing drunkenness.
Shelley is the most unlikeable of the leads, dismissive, rude and wholly self-obsessed. Gemma Adams’ performance perfectly exposed the underlying insecurity and desperation, making the character almost sympathetic.
Best of all was Bryony Mountfort as the Tony Christie-loving Linda. She bought a beguiling mixture of innocence and awakening to what could have been an irritatingly timid character.
No matter how the horses ran, the clear winners here were the audience.
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