Review: Ladies Day - St George's Theatre, Great Yarmouth

A group of fish factory workers head to the races to give their soon-to-be retired colleague a celebratory send-off. But in Amanda Whittington's animated comedy, things go off the tracks as the drinks start flowing and uncomfortable secrets come to light.

It's a cast of five with Susanna Harding and Dawn Finnerty playing best pals Pearl and Jan, with their younger colleagues, Linda and Shelley, played by Grace Pennington and Natasha Culley. Handling all of the male roles is an industrious Donald Forbes.

While initially the production couldn't make up its mind about where it was pitching itself, with some moments and actors' portrayals straying into pantomime territory, once it settled down, it proved to be an entertaining comedy drama.

Key to the success of the play is the rapport between the four women, and fortunately this troupe were a thoroughly convincing group of friends. Not that there weren't standout individual moments - I particularly enjoyed Finnerty's drunken Jan, Pennington's moments of sensitivity as Linda's vulnerability becomes more apparent, and Forbes' captivating jockey monologue.

While the play appears at first to be about Pearl's retirement and a surprising revelation, as the story progresses, each of the four have their moment where their own struggles are laid bare. However, therein lies the play's weakness. With it splitting its time between four sub-narratives, there's no room for conclusions, so when the collective happy ending arrives, you're still left with questions about what's next for the characters. Perhaps that speaks more of me overthinking things. If you take the piece at face value though, it's a great evenings' entertainment with a number of funny and touching moments.

Ladies Day continues its run at St George's Theatre, before transferring to Sheringham Little Theatre for a week of performances between the 20-26 August. It then heads to Wolterton Hall for a final performance on the 28th.