The Sprout

Review: Five Blue Haired Ladies Sitting On A Green Park Bench

Posted by Stormer007 from Cardiff - Published on 22/06/2011 at 10:36
3 comments » - Tagged as Comedy, Stage

Tweet

Five Blue Haired Ladies Sitting on a Green Park Bench,
New Theatre,
Tuesday 21st June 2011

Five Blue Haired Ladies Sitting on a Green Park Bench. The title caught my interest. With no idea of what I was getting in for (other than blue hair and green parks) I waddled over to the New Theatre, Cardiff to see these ladies and their bench(es). Instead of being a clever cover for a dazzling West End musical or a morbid play penned by Agatha Christie, the title tells you exactly what you get.

The play is set in a green park in New York and onstage throughout are two park benches. The ladies in the play, of which there are five, sit on these benches (you can see where the title came from). The only thing that puzzled me was the colour of the ladies’ hair, which was, I’m disappointed to report, not blue.

The five charming and lovely woman share this park bench and spend their time reminiscing about their lives; the ups and the downs are all included and the play is brutally honest and thoroughly charming at the same time. The ladies all have their own little quirks and by the end of the play, you have come to know and be fond of, all the lovely ladies.

LaLa (Nicola Blackman) is a feisty and cheeky jazz singer who loves nothing more than to tell stories of the time she sang in front of crowds, while Eva (Lorraine Chase) is just slightly paranoid and enjoys spending her time sharing her former life as ‘a somebody’ with her companions, while simultaneously insisting that people are following her. Anna (Shirley Anne Field) and Gladys (Anita Harris) join the lovely ladies doing crosswords and eating junk food while Rose (Anne Charleston) who appears firm and robust from the onset, we grow to care for and understand as the play goes on.

The play is charming, funny, moving and touching and the five blue haired ladies do a fabulous job of entertaining throughout. The play, written by John A Penzotti, leads you into a false sense of realism however and by the end of Act One, you realise that this play is nothing like what you thought it was and the Second Act entertains you all the more. The script is marvellous.

With a beautifully talented cast, a quaint and understated undertone and a story of a hundred stories, I thoroughly enjoyed Five Blue Haired Ladies Sitting on a Green Park Bench and I would recommend you go and see it.

The play is at the New Theatre until Saturday 25th June and as a re-act event, those of you under 25 can see it for just £5! What a bargain!

News » Categories » Stage

Events » Five Blue Haired Ladies Sitting on a Green Park Bench

Info » Sport & Leisure » Performing Arts » Acting, Drama and Theatre