Liverpool Theatre Festival opened its doors tonight within the stunning location of St Lukes Bombed Out Church. This festival runs for 12 nights with a variety of musicals, drama, comedy and entertainment being shown daily. What a pleasure it is to be back seeing Live Theatre and local actress Lynne Fitzgerald didn’t disappoint as she starred in the opening performance “From Ladette to Laundrette”.
This slice of comedy is a one-woman show where Lynne plays a number of characters (at least 10!) to illustrate the narrative across the 70-minute performance. The story is set in present day, and it follows Claire, a beautician from Waterloo, as she stumbles through the dramas that unfold across her work, love life, family and friendships. Claire was one half of a famous pop duo back in the 90s with best friend Tina who she hasn’t spoken to for 25 years. When the band is asked to ‘get back together’ the audience are intrigued as to what ever went wrong and wonder whether reconciliation could ever be on the cards.
This show was written by Liverpool playwright Mark Davies Markham, which is no surprise as it’s full of witty, local humour that appeals greatly to the audience. The overstated accents and rather truthful characterisation has the audience laughing from the get-go. Subtitles were almost necessary for some of the characters which only made it even more hilarious!
Lynne’s talent knows no limits with her use of accent, tone, expression and body language depicting every diverse character with ease and class. A particular highlight was the dating scenes when we see Lynne jump from character to character whilst dancing and her slow-motion montage moment was comedy gold!
This one act play used simple symbolism; props, lighting and sound effects to depict different scenes and transitions which worked well. The production was very slick (Bill Elms Productions) with particular credit to James Baker for his clever direction that made this a feel-good show filled with fun and laugher, as well as a ‘take-home message’
Congratulations to “From Ladette to Laundrette” for successfully opening Liverpool Theatre Festival with a bang! A thoroughly enjoyable evening that had the audience smiling throughout and on their feet by the end. The Festival continues in the idyllic Bombed Out Chruch until 12th of September 2021, for tickets and more information on future performances, please visit https://www.liverpooltheatrefestival.com/
Reviewer: Blathine Maguire
Reviewed: 1st September 2021
North West End UK Rating: ★★★★
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