STEPPING OUT
Burton Bradstock Players at Burton Bradstock Village Hall
Review: Holly Robinson

THIS stage play by Richard Harris examines the lives, laughs and loves of a group of women and one man who attend a weekly tap class in a dingy North London church hall in the mid 1980s.

Director and choreographer Shirley Ewart skilfully brought to life the gentle comedy of the eccentric gathering who battle not only too many left feet but the ups and downs of their varied lives.

The class is led by teacher and ex-professional dancer Mavis - played by Karen Venn who admirably mastered the art of dancing, teaching and acting all at the same time - who battles each week to bring the class up to standard for a charity show.

There is the cheerfully overweight and working class Sylvia, performed with suitable vulgarity by Gill East (a familiar face for Bridport audiences) who created the perfect foil to the irritating but well meaning class newcomer Vera. Played with superb snootiness by Jane Poore, Vera takes it upon herself to do and interfere with everything. Every group has one!

Timid and plain do-gooder Andy was sympathetically brought to life by Louisa Hardy, who will not least be remembered for the dramatic difference a dab of eye-shadow and confidence can do at the group's final showtime.

Colin Haley was delightfully shy as widower Geoffrey, the lone the male who doesn't stand a chance among the constant gossiping and bickering of the women around him and there was strong support and physical comedy from Vicky Thomas as benefits office worker Dorothy, Sarah Brown as accomplished dancer Lynne, Pam Abel as pushy clothes shop owner Maxine and Liz Slater as the OAP of the group, Rose.

Julie Kingston gave a wonderfully tetchy performance as Mrs Fraser, the group's down to earth pianist who had some great lines and an excellent drunken scene.

The script teases with titbits of the characters' lives outside class, but never fully develops leaving the audience feeling slightly unfulfilled - a problem certainly of the script and time rather than the cast at hand.

The Players, some of whom faced learning tap for the first time, ably portrayed the class's development from ramshackle group to proficient dance outfit, mirrored no doubt by their own experience of the show, and certainly no mean feat for a village group of their size.

Overall the Players hit on yet another success with Stepping Out and delivered a suitably entertaining night