dinnerladies

Victoria Wood‘s “dinnerladies” – no capital letter on Wood’s own instructions – ran on BBC One for 16 episodes in two series from 1998 to 2000. It may be 10 years ago, but there was no doubt on opening night at the King’s Theatre, that the stage version of this sitcom had brought out a very large contingent of devoted fans. To one like myself who rarely saw the original TV series, the humour seems oddly dated, somewhat clichéd ,and determinedly northern English.
Sexual innuendo abounds, and is absolutely lapped up by the audience. The action is episodic and on-going over 8 months and, mingling gags with poignancy, plots the slow burning romance of Bren and Tony within the setting of a factory canteen. Victoria Wood’s character Bren is played in a very lively and sympathetic way by Laura Sheppard, and Andrew Dunn is the original Tony. Sue Devaney is another of the original cast and her bouncy character Jane is a big hit with the audience. Dumped wife turned rampant sex queen Jean is played as a somewhat cartoonish character by Stella Ross, while Roya Amiri is dippy Anita. They’re a right feisty bunch of stalwart troopers – in the best “ you’d be mad to work here” tradition. David Graham of the Comedy Theatre Company has adapted the TV scripts for this show, which is now on the third tour of its stage production.
King’s Theatre until Sat 6th March.