Fourteen Again, The Victoria Wood Theatre, Bowness
Those sliding doors moments; what if fate had dealt us a different hand?
A chance reunion of two friends separated as teenagers under mysterious circumstances a lifetime ago sparks a tale of regret, loss and hope.
Fourteen Again pulls together a dozen of the songs featuring the kind of word-play, as northern as fish and chips, that catapulted the late great Victoria Wood into national treasure status.
Sally Ann Triplett plays Peggy to best friend Lou outstandingly portrayed by Ria Jones.
Her transformation from fat-fighting overlord to mullet sporting, angst-ridden teen is awesome and she delivers some of the best lines of the show.
Both played with Victoria Wood and their performances are from the same mould; perfectly timed, wry, observational comedy peppered with machine-gun, word-perfect monologues that leave the audience in awe.
The story is a flashback, Ashes to Ashes style, with Peggy – now a divorcee facing her 50s alone – transported back to her teenage bedroom and given the chance to change her life and start again.
As the tale unfolds, Duncan – played by Michael Chance – is Peggy’s piano-playing love interest and adds another layer to the show as teen boyfriend and tech bamboozled ex-husband.
The songs and story, which makes good use of a revolving stage for numerous scene changes, has everything from side threatening laughter to real moments of reflection and heart-wrenching scenes.
For nostalgia lovers, references to Basil Brush and Nana Mouskouri are in the mix along with the hilarious reference to Women’s Weekly in the rollocking Ballad of Barry and Freda which is the show’s crowning glory.
The intimate setting means there’s crowd interaction which adds to the variety of a fast-moving performance where not just the performers maybe struggle to draw breath!
For such a small cast there’s no slack or drop in pace and maybe a mention for the team off stage who keep the performance moving with such verve should be made.
Visitors are guaranteed to be keen to watch reruns of Acorn Antiques as well as Housewife 49 – set in Barrow – and a reminder of the versatility of someone whose work spread across such a range of social, dramatic styles.
It’s a decade since Victoria Wood died although reruns of her work on TV make it feel that her timeless, sometimes poignant comedy lives on.
The Old Laundry Theatre in Bowness has been renamed The Victoria Wood Theatre and ahead of the official naming ceremony later this month by the theatre’s owners, husband-and-wife team, Charlotte Scott and Roger Glossop MBE.
The venue is hosting the premiere of a musical the performer herself would rightly be proud of.
- Fourteen Again at The Victoria Wood Threatre, Bowness-on-Windermere until Saturday June 6.
