Follies – Liverpool Playhouse

An amateur dramatics company putting on a Stephen Sondheim show should be enough to send shivers down your spine – but Birkenhead Operatic Society Trust (BOST) really gave it their all – and it paid off!

Follies opened on Broadway in 1971 and was written by Sondheim, James Goldman and Hal Prince, inspired by the former Ziegfeld Follies. It centres around Sally Durant Plummer and her husband Buddy and her best friend from their time in the Follies, Phyllis Rogers Stone and her husband Ben. We are introduced to their present selves in 1971 and their 30-year younger selves, at the star of the 1940s. It is set at the Weissman Theatre on Broadway, on the eve of its demolition. We mainly follow Sally, Phyllis, Buddy and Ben and their younger selves, but we also get to meet some of the other phenomenal women who were Dimitri Weissman’s showgirls. It is a show of highs and lows, but most of all heart.

Leading the cast as the older characters were Linzi Stefanov as Sally, Gina Phillips as Phyllis, Chris Simmons as Buddy and Jonty Barnes as Ben, the Bridie Round as young Sally, Katrina Reilly as young Phyllis, David Hollis as young Buddy and Will Goodwin as young Ben. All eight were absolutely brilliant and so well cast. Their vocals, acting and dancing were all spot on and they really helped to give the production a more professional feel. The supporting cast were also brilliant, with a special mention to Michael Pearson, portraying Roscoe, the compare and MC of the Follies. A stand-out moment for me, was Stefanov’s rendition of ‘Losing my mind’ in act 2. It was hauntingly beautiful and you could see the turmoil the character was going through in her performance. As I stated earlier, the whole cast were phenomenal, the only song that didn’t hit the mark for me was ‘I’m still here’, but that is definitely more on me than the performance.

James Lacey was the director and choreographer and it was very clever how he utilised the skills and talents of the cast – the younger cast doing lifts and spins in the dancing and simpler routines for the older cast, if needed. You could tell it was something that had consciously been thought about. Lacey also designed the set, costumes and wigs, I later found out that the costumes had been made by the company themselves and you would not have been able to tell. They were so good and perfect for each character and the era they represented. The set was clearly more basic that the version from the National Theatre in 2018/2019, but it was still cleverly designed when you consider it was an amateur performance. For me, the only thing that made it noticeable as an amateur performance, was the fact a few cast members kept hitting their heads on the lower-tiered elements of the set, but again, I think I only noticed these because of where I was sat.

As someone who has been tainted by amateur dramatics companies in the past, Follies by BOST has given me a new outlook and perspective – and I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with Elf at the Liverpool Empire later in the year!

Reviewer: Jenn McKean

Reviewed: 5th June 2026

North West End UK Rating: