I’ve got to admit I really didn’t think this was going to be my kind of play but actually, I really loved it. On paper its title makes it sound a touch unsubtle but actually this is one hell of a good old-fashioned night out beautifully played by a top-notch cast making it a real West End show right here in the heart of lovely Lichfield. It’s definitely one for the ladies and the cast here do them proud.
With a plot that mixes sex, religion and a tiny touch of the supernatural this play turns out to be about the very things that obsess us all. It’s cheeky, mildly filthy, irreverent and often very funny indeed. I won’t give away the storyline, suffice it to say it a group of recognisably respectable women (think Calendar Girls) decide to make a bit of money in shall we say a rather unusual way.
Marcus Hutton is tensely convincing as the vicar husband who’s renounced high finance for the clergy while Daniel Crowder as his silly ass colleague gets the humour just right.
Linda Armstrong as the discontented vicar’s wife looks quite sexy enough to move on out of there with ease but is sensitive enough to yearn to stay put, while Nicola Weeks as the American hitchhiker with a secret has just the right amount of fragile youth.
Sarah Jane Buckley as the posh friend reminds me of a number of elegantly hard-bitten ladies of my acquaintance while Danielle Johnson is simply eye-popping as the high class tart. But there’s always a star, and for me it’s got to be Suzie Chard as the farmer’s wife who hilariously finds a whole new side of herself that’s closer to nature than she’s ever been before.
There’s a great play lurking somewhere inside here about women and their potential, and it’s Matt Healy as the no-nonsense ordinary-bloke northerner who helps it to get out.
The production runs until October 10. The theatre was pretty busy for a Tuesday night, nearly full, so book fast to avoid disappointment. For tickets phone the box office on 01543 412121 or go online at www.lichfieldgarrick.com.
