Well this is a night of jolly good fun. Daisy and her comrades most certainly pull it off in this utterly spiffing revival of Denise Deegan’s award-winning play.It is 1927 and Grangewood School for Girls is celebrating its 25th Anniversary. The Upper Fourths are putting on a performance as part of the anniversary festival; a play in two acts entitled Daisy Pulls It Off. It is a ‘topping tale of mystery and adventure’ in which elementary schoolgirl Daisy Meredith wins a scholarship to the renowned public school, Grangewood, where sporting prowess is a mark of moral standards - only rotters don’t like games. There, she meets friends, enemies and eccentric teachers and finds she has to prove her worth as an ‘outsider’. Her pluckiness and determination take her on many adventures with best friend Trixie where she often comes a cropper, mainly thanks to Sybil Burlington, the snobbish bully. The question is: will Daisy make it to the end of her first year?
This play was written by Deegan in the eighties, when there were fewer roles for women than men (- how things haven't changed). It launched the careers of several esteemed actresses and, in this revival by Go People and Glass Half Full Productions, household names headline, with Pauline McLynn (best known for her award-winning role as Mrs Doyle in Father Ted) as Trixie, Shobna Gulati (dinnerladies and Coronation Street) as Sybil and Anna Shaffer (Harry Potter and Hollyoaks) in the title role - an excellent stage debut for the latter.
The ensemble is delightfully mixed in terms of age, ethnicity, experience and gender. The entire cast is nothing short of superb, bringing their own strengths to the table: rarely will you see so many funny bones on one stage. This play works best when played straight and director Paulette Randall has found and nailed the comedy at every moment. I genuinely haven't laughed so hard in years - and I wasn't alone with raucous laughter rippling through the auditorium frequently. Jokes land perfectly, physical comedy is outstanding and the comic timing is on point. The pacing falters a little towards the end of Act One but, that aside, this is a flawless production.
Many cast members play a number of roles, with costume changes happening onstage. New characters introduce themselves in a spotlight and give a brief biography to the audience before launching back into the play. The energy never falters; even when Gulati chokes on her bun at the top of Act Two - I'm sure that isn't in the script! - she finds the comedy in the moment, accented by the marvellous Clare Perkins playing Sybil's deep-voiced sidekick, Monica.
The staging (Libby Watson) is chic and simple, reflecting the humble beginnings of this play that was written by Deegan with low budgets and modest spaces in mind. The set consists of wooden chairs, a set of steps and some chalk portraits that slide in and out of sight when required. Scene changes are clean and swift and often accompanied by beautiful harmonies as the girls sing their school songs, showing them to be a multitalented bunch. Chairs become suitcases, trains, 'dormy' beds and even cliffs in a superb mountain rescue scene, which is a standout moment in this standout production.
It is impossible to leave the Park Theatre without feeling elated - this is one of the highlights of London's Christmas calendar. Thinking of getting a ticket? That'd be a simply topping idea!
For a pre-Christmas and early January romp, hie thee to The Hound of the Baskervilles at the splendid pocket-sized Jermyn Street Theatre.