Dance To Your DaddyWestovians
15 July 2013
Ahh there is something to be said about the canny folk of
South Shields. Warm, friendly, full of life and with a little bit of complexity
and intrigue thrown in for good measure.
Dance To Your Daddy explores this and more, well between the
period of 1940-1960 anyways.
George (Mark Lamb) doesn’t fit in, the cobbled streets
of Tyne Dock aren’t for him anymore.
Leaving behind Mary (Angela Szalay) and Louise (Audreyann Myers)
two of his best friends that he has grown up with, he is off to search pastures
new.
He is sure that he won’t be missed, but his legacy
will be heard and told under the breath of the gossips, he is leaving behind a
possible tangled web.
The neighbouring families aren’t exactly prim and
proper, cat calling in the street, especially when somebody has had the
misfortune to come up a cropper, or step out of line, Lizzy (Amy Jeffels) for example,
even though she is still only young she is in possession of a nursery full of
kids, and onto husband number two.
Mary, not known for her intelligence, and showing some mental health characteristics is wielding a new baby
boy, unsure of who the father is. Helped and somewhat hindered all the way by a
wayward Louise, the years pass. Her son Jimmy (James Barton) is quite content
with life, but as tragedy strikes the local shoe factory, his world is turned
upside down.
With a superb story constructed and directed by David Cooke,
this musical/drama had entertainment written all over it. Brilliantly narrated
by David’s wife Carol, she told the very interesting interlocking stories of
the close-knit community.
A large cast complemented each other, as humour turned
deftly to song, fantastic vocals from Angela as she ranged from emotion to
emotion with superb results.
Great acting from all on stage, with Audreyann pulling in a
fantastic performance with the character of the tormented Louise.
Mark as always putting his best foot forward as the want-away George.
It was though Angela who stole the show with her performance, she really shone with her gritty character.
A great stage setting by David Cooke and Michael Ferry, told the visual story perfectly. I myself used to live in a house styled upon their design, it gave me a few goosebumps I can tell you..
Lighting setup was perfect under the control of Ian Johnson, as was the sound by Craig Richardson.
If you are looking for a bit of nostalgia, humour and great acting then Dance To Your Daddy is for you.
Dance To Your Daddy is playing until Saturday 20th July
Michael Hunter
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