Being an only child I tended to do a lot of reading and Enid Blyton was one of my first go-to authors. It is probably the Yorkshire influence that, whilst the other readers I knew were into The Famous Five books, I opted for The Secret Seven series. Buy 5 get 2 free! I was also more intrigued by the word ‘secret’ than ‘famous’. Being seven or eight years old, Malory Towers didn’t register, as it was about girls, and I was not familiar with the concept of a boarding school for posh ‘gells’. To be honest, living in a post-war slum in East Leeds, I wasn’t familiar with the concept of posh kids at all, so the Secret Seven opened up new vistas, but at least there were boys involved – and a dog – Scamper. The language used was upper middle class, but, although alien in my day-to-day environment, in the 1950s everyone on television and in the films spoke like that so I could follow the stories OK. When we first got a telly, programmes would begin at five in the evening with Children’s Hour, after which there was the ‘Toddlers’ Truce’, when broadcasting would close down for an hour so that parents could get we little darlings tucked up without a tantrum because we wanted to keep on viewing. At seven, when programmes resumed, the link announcers would wear evening dress!
The girls break into the opening number – Sing Sing Sing. Left to right: Mary-Lou, Eden Barrie; Sally, Bethany Wooding; Darrell, Robyn Sinclair; Gwendoline, Rebecca Collingwood and Alicia, Molly Cheesley.
Imagine my surprise when this production, now a musical, opened to the strains of a current banging dance track with the schoolgirls throwing shapes and shaking their respective booties. I realise that the Leeds Playhouse can sometimes be a little ‘over enthusiastic’ in their interpretation of classics so that audiences don’t have to overtax their brains by trying to imagine the mood of the world when the originals were written, but I feared that this was a step too far. Thankfully my concerns were quickly allayed when, after a bit of bullying by the class bitch, against the most vulnerable girl, who was awkward, wore glasses and, to make things worse, was dressed in a fairy costume as she was cast as Titania in the school play, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, a scuffle broke out and the Queen of the Fairies lay prostrate and motionless on the floor with the others gathered around her in shock. The action froze and a large display on the main part of the set, counted down the years from 2026 to 1947. Being born in 1949, I realised that this would take some time as I have to go through the same rigmarole when I enter my date of birth on-line for security purposes. Why can’t they let us type it in, it would save hours for old gits like me.
Get your feet off the seats, girls! The cast have a sing-song on the train to school.
The action had moved to a platform at London’s Paddington Station, where a succession of girls turned up to board the train for Malory Towers. This was cleverly done, with some wooden and tubular steel chairs arranged in the manner of the compartmentalised trains of the time, and, as each one took their seat, they introduced themselves with the others repeating their names with a cheery, ‘Hello, (insert name)!’ so that we were in no doubt who was who. It also gave us a glimpse into the personalities of the passengers, especially Gwendoline, a spoilt brat who insisted that she had a seat facing in the direction of travel, even though they were taken by the others. She was the bully from the opening scene so things began to fit into place.
The play is a compilation of incidents from the books so, because there were quite a few stories, I won’t do a full synopsis, as is my wont, but merely say that they were all woven together seamlessly and to brilliant effect. The most spectacular episode occurred just before the interval and left us in suspense whilst demolishing our mid-show ice creams. Actually, that is not totally correct, as during the break, the cast took to a stage set up in the bar area, where they performed a song especially pertinent to the occasion, ‘This Is A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening’, originally made famous by Frank Sinatra in the 1943 film Higher and Higher (not a drugs related movie). I have just watched the clip and satisfied myself that Old Blue Eyes didn’t employ hockey sticks or a washboard in his rendition.
The cast at the interval. They were not planning clocking off for an early night, but the next scene was set in the dorm. Photograph by Stan Graham.
The music used in the play was a great mixture of classics contemporary to the period, arranged by Nigel Lilley and Ian Ross, as well as those written especially for the show by Emma Rice, lyrics, and Ian Ross, music.
Not only did the cast play musical instruments during the break, they provided all of the accompaniments in the show. The standard of musicianship was superb, especially as some of them acted at the same time. They also had to dance, an activity which Choreographer, Alistair Bird, oversaw wonderfully.
The main thrust of the production was the interaction between the personalities of those in the group, an Enid Blyton speciality, and their bonding – or otherwise – throughout the piece.
A night out. Robyn Sinclair as Darrell, Zoë West as Bill, Molly Cheesley as Alicia, Bethany Wooding as Sally and Eden Barrie as Mary-Lou.
There were some wonderful surprises along the way insofar as the presentation was concerned, both shocking and amusing, so I don’t want to spoil anything by referring to them specifically, save to say that I must credit the great work of Set and Costume Designer, Lez Brotherston; Lyndie Wright, Puppets; Sarah Wright, Puppet Consultant; Beth Carter and Stuart Mitchell, Dream Sequence Animators; Simon Baker, Sound and Video Designer; Malcolm Rippeth, Lighting Designer and Kev McCurdy, Fight Director, all of whom were in ripping form, so jolly good show to you all.
As for the cast, they were incredible, interpreting the actions, accents and mannerisms of the period, to a tee. Sally, (Bethany Wooding) was the sensible one, guiding the crew through the various incidents; Alicia, (Molly Cheesley) who, although exuding an air of confidence, covered up her insecurity with humour and schoolgirl jokes; Irene, (Stephanie Hockley, also the Musical Director) a French girl, brilliant musician songwriter and artist; Gwendoline, (Rebecca Collingwood) arrogant, spoiled and bullying, who, as with all bullies, has a deep-seated sense of self-doubt; Mary-Lou, (Eden Barrie) kind, but timid and the object of the bully, but who still wanted to be a part of the gang; Whilelmina – call me Bill, (Zoë West) independent, adventurous and a horse-lover, whose mount, Thunder, is stabled at the school and Darrell, (Robyn Sinclair) the girl with a strong sense of justice but also a short-fuse, which gets her into more trouble than she deserves.
The girls prepare for class with the spectre of the Head Teacher looming over them. Try to guess who it is. Answer in next paragraph.
That just leaves the Head Teacher, Mrs Grayling, and here we have a corker. Although not appearing in person, she was represented by her silhouette behind the frosted glass of her office door. It was only Dame Sheila Hancock. The unmistakable voice adding a strict, but fair, element to the mayhem caused by the girls.
Emma Rice has made an absolutely spiffing job of Adapting and Directing this set of classic children’s novels, whilst maintaining their integrity. Laura Keefe was Assistant Director.
For more information and to book, please go to https://www.leedsplayhouse.org.uk/event/malory-towers/
Everyone concerned has made this an absolute treat and I hope that you get a chance to see it on its tour, which calls at HOME, Manchester, 2nd-13th June; Liverpool Playhouse, 16th-20th June; The Arts Theatre, Cambridge, 23rd-27th June; Richmond Theatre, 30th June-4th July; Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, 14th-18th July and ends at Alexandra Palace Theatre, London from 22nd July-4th August. For full details and booking, check out https://www.emmaricecompany.co.uk/productions/malory-towers You can thank me later.
To see what is coming to Leeds Playhouse see https://www.leedsplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on/
Except where stated, photographs by Steve Tanner
Tyke It To The Limit 