BETTY! – A sort of Musical – Royal Exchange Theatre

As we left the Royal Exchange this evening following the World Premiere of ‘BETTY! – A sort of Musical’, I understood the necessity of the subtitle in attempting to describe this show. ‘Betty’ is part musical, part sketch comedy and all heart, a Winter warmer that is both funny and completely bonkers but lacks the consistency to make it a real Christmas cracker.

Director Sarah Frankcom and Maxine Peake have further developed their long standing working relationship with both each other and this Mancunian theatrical institution, ‘BETTY’ is their eighth project working together. This time round they have enlisted composer and songwriter Seiriol Davies to tell the story of Baroness Betty Boothroyd, the redoubtable first woman Speaker of the House of Commons and her extraordinary rise to political power from unprepossessing beginnings.

However, this is no straightforward biography, we enter the story through the eyes of the Dewsbury Players, an amateur dramatic group hailing from Boothroyds hometown, who’s last attempt at a show is caustically described as ‘Miss Saigon Wrong’. The superb details of the set (James Cotterill) with strip lighting, broken tea urn and a badminton court marked on the parquet flooring, evokes every amateur rehearsal room to perfection and the stark realism contrasts brilliantly with the high concept imaginarium that follows later. The leader of this troupe is Meredith Ankle (Maxine Peake), sarcastic and withering from the outset; this is her fiefdom and she has grand designs to snare funding from the BBC for her ‘BETTY!’ project with creative use of the application process. Adrita Chaterjee (Lena Kaur) arrives as the chosen emissary, as we witness various stages of the life of Boothroyd played out in song and dance, with increasingly tenuous links to historical accuracy.

Davies manages to pay homage to a surprisingly broad range of musical genre throughout the show, drawing on Boothroyds early years as a Tiller Girl (Be a Good Girl) to give us high kicking glitz, morphing into a James Bond pastiche (Power!) that deals with the MI5/KGB rumours that dogged her career. The funniest part of an overlong first Act deals with her early life in Dewsbury, flat caps abound as characters wish each other ‘Great Depression’ upon meeting, and the warmly knowing tribute to northern stereotypes (And a Whatnot in the Corner) has the audience howling in recognition. In their writing, both Peake and Davies acknowledge the debt to previous northern writers and the spirit of Victoria Wood is certainly present in the opening half of the show, rhyming ‘Bravado’ and ‘Amontillado’ is not exactly Sondheim but speaks to a tradition that still resonates very strongly in the north and tickled the audience’s funny bone.

However, Davies has successfully added a Pythonesque absurdism to the deadpan wordplay which makes it more than mere homage. This is most evident after the interval when the show shakes off any pretence of realism. Peake descends from the lofty spaceship vault of the theatre on Speakers chair, to participate in a series of trials to test her worthiness for office (Boothroydian Rhapsody), taking the form of ‘rap battles with eminent politicians of the era. The audience watched open mouthed as Betty riffed with the spirits of Dennis Skinner, Ian Paisley and a very scary Margaret Thatcher. Adding in a rock score channelling everyone from Queen to Kiss may sound like one too many ingredients, but this spectacle manages to be both kitsch and witty simultaneously, it was like watching ‘Hamilton’ whilst being under the influence of strong narcotics!

Fortunately, the tiny cast of six actors has the versatility to carry out such a high concept piece of theatre, Joan Kempson as Hazel was particularly droll and punctured the pomposity of Meredith with hilarious regularity. Peake was on top form as both Betty and Meredith, the latter a beautiful character, a theatrical Thatcherite, Hyacinth Bucket with a touch of ‘Pat and Margaret’ (Victoria Wood aficionados will know) and redeemed by the conclusion in true Dickensian ‘Christmas Carol’ style.

Undoubtedly, there are certain issues that need to be addressed, the standalone showpiece after the interval meant that the first act was far too long at nearly 90 minutes and even the sympathetic press night audience grew restless. The climax of the story also felt weak compared with the highly camp conceptual foreplay that preceded it, both characters of Adrita (Lena Kaur) and Angela (Eva Scott) requiring more rounded writing for the audience to fully invest in their storyline. Also by telling the story through a comedic and absurdist framework, it risks trivialising the real achievements of Boothroyd, a woman in a man’s world, that Peake and Davies seek to champion.

Politics was once memorably described as ‘showbusiness for ugly people’ and with the detestation of politicians at an all-time high, it may seem slightly counterintuitive to pen something that celebrates them.  However, the underlying sentiment of this show demonstrates that despite the polarisation of politics through social media and increasingly shrill voices in the press, there is still more that unites than divides us, and that human kindness exists regardless of political affiliation.

‘BETTY!’ is a love letter to tolerance and moderation, an absurdist and surreal political fable for the festive season.

Playing until 14th January 2023, https://www.royalexchange.co.uk/whats-on-and-tickets/betty-a-sort-of-musical

Reviewer: Paul Wilcox

Reviewed: 8th December 2022

North West End UK Rating: ★★★★