What’s it about?
Based on The Sopranos by Adam Warner and adapted by award-winning playwright, Lee Hall (the guy behind Billy Elliot), Our Ladies is a tale about a group of school girls on a crazy choir trip to Edinburgh. It’s a story about six Scottish scoundrels on the cusp of change, facing up to life’s big hurdles – whoppers such as love, pregnancy and death – the only way teens can. A musical tribute to being young, lost and out of control.
Who’s in it?
A twinkling bunch of unknown Scottish stars. Though we hope this will soon change, because boy are these young women talented – and more people should know about them. There’s Melissa Allan (playing Orla – a skinny, sweet little thing battling illness and the fear of losing her virginity), Caroline Deyga (playing Chell – the curvaceous, bad-mouth blonde), Karen Fishwick (playing Kay – a goody two-shoes with a big secret to hide), Kirsty MacLaren (playing Manda – that one ditzy friend we all have), Frances Mayli McCann (playing Kylah – a pint-sized titan dreaming of becoming a star) and, last but certainly not least, Dawn Sievewright (playing Fionnula – the raspy-voiced leader fighting her way through a sexuality maze). Buy a programme on the night if you want to learn more about them.
What’s good about it?
It brings the feel-good factor; the naughtiness of St Trinian’s, but a little more x-rated. No topic is off limits when it comes to the sex talk, the characters’ behaviour is reckless and the language is filthy – gob-smacking at times – but it’s all part of the fun.
And the fact that if they’re not swearing, they’re singing like angels (to hits from the likes of ELO and Bob Marley), makes it even more hilarious. How a group of young girls with such angelic voices have such dirty mouths we do not know, but it works brilliantly. It’s hard to not become engulfed in the laughs and distracted by the gags, but try – their voices are stunning and bellow throughout the theatre. And when they come together in harmony, it’s perfection.
Superb acting too – which, let’s face it, you definitely need in order to portray teenage angst the right way. It’s raw and believable – the laughter, the rebellion, the tears, the lot – and the raucous energy never fades.
What we loved the most, though, is that underneath all the smutty silliness, it’s actually a story of friendship and female empowerment. Women – especially young women – shouldn’t be silenced or censored and this play stands for that in every way possible. A ballsy move from its writers – and kudos to them for it.
Who should see it?
Friends. Mothers and daughters. Grandmothers. Take your teen sister if she’s 16 or over. It’s a show all women can relate to on some level; we’ve all rebelled at some point during our lives, we’ve all been through heartbreak, we’ve all been so drunk that we can’t walk straight and we all have memories of our school days that are impossible to forget.
When is it on?
Now, but be quick – it ends this Saturday (July 16). Tickets from £17.50.
