BE MY BABY. To 8 May.
Oldham
BE MY BABY
by Amanda Whittington
Coliseum Theatre To 8 May 2004
Tue-Thu; Sat 7.30pm Fri 8pm Mat 28 April 2pm, 1 & 8 May 2.30pm
Audio-described 27 April
BSL Signed 28 April
Post-show talk 4 May
Runs 2hr 5min One interval
TICKETS: 0161 624 2829
Review: Timothy Ramsden 24 April
Youngsters hit the right notes in newly expanded version of an admired play.Norma and Queenie, Mary and Dolores; they'll be expecting their bus passes soon. And inside, told to no-one, or only very few, will be memories of 1964 in this northern England mother-and-baby home. While sex, drugs and rock n' roll hit the headlines a world away, the music of glamorous girl-groups mixed headily with ignorance about The Pill, to land these dreaming teens in the stern world of St Saviours mother-and-baby home.
It's a grim, institutional, raftered nowhere-land in Dawn Alsopp's design. A lone door stands sentinel over any hopes of freedom these naïve young women may develop. Natalie Wilson's production ignores the home's name, the hymns, prayers and matron's nickname The Holy Cow' to secularise the place. This strands the normally fine Kerry Peers in a characterisation that's more pretentious seaside landlady, with put-down smile and I-know-better' vocal smarm. Neither her final mistake (covered up, of course, in those days) nor her kindness come forcefully through after 2 hours of pursed-lip, clasped-hand superiority.
But it's the expectant mothers' show, and they handle it magnificently, calmly assisting with scene changes while contributing four-part arrangements of Dusty Springfield, the Ronnettes and other stars they'll never be. Their refusal to be crushed, their awkward comfort in each other's company but only while they're in it together show magnificent resilience.
Which emphasises the horror of surrendering your baby, soon as it's born, for adoption. Heledd Baskerville's naïve Norma dementedly searching under beds for her child after finally realising how complete the divorce will be is as fine a picture of shocked realisation as Shaw's St Joan understanding the implications of lifetime imprisonment.
And Mrs Adams' half-proud, half-ashamed talk of what a good girl Mary is, with her job in a bank, seems superficiality incarnate as Mary cradles her newborn child, staring, staring so fondly till it's taken away.
There's humour too, but even when innocent Dolores is kitted out with a nappy, it's never at the characters' expense. This quartet's in tune with the play throughout, both acting and in vocalisations of the enticing melodies which curl like happy delusions round their lives.
Norma: Heledd Baskerville
Dolores: Hayley Bishop
Mrs Adams: Mary Ann Coburn
Mary: Rosalie Craig
Queenie: Susan McArdle
Matron: Kerry Peers
Director: Natalie Wilson
Designer: Dawn Allsopp
Lighting: Phil Davies
Sound: Daniel Ogden
Musical Director: John Morton
2004-04-25 11:45:23