Rita, Sue & Bob too! – Floral Pavilion

Yes of course, this play comes with a trigger warning, pointing out that it’s the original 1981 script. No surprises there – except that it is still as shocking today as it was over 40 years ago, although the emphasis is more on the bawdy humour than the disturbing issues it addresses. Even more shocking, for all the audience gasped at the arrant sexism, things haven’t changed that much. Improved seems far too much to hope for. You still get dodgy blokes cruising around secondary schools in their flashy cars, tho Bob’s looks like a second hand Trabant, and bright orange to boot. You still get stubborn, self-obsessed, giggly teenage girls interested in little else but sex: there’s nowt else to do here, as one student proclaimed years ago. Blame their parents? The usual suspects are here as well, the out of work drunken Dad and scary, overbearing mother. And the sad, sad wives: Bob’s Michelle has as babysitters two working class girls from a rundown council estate in their final year at school. But it’s not just the children they keep an eye on…

With the staging, whilst one of the painted backdrops crops up a couple of times, an ironically picturesque view, the other is used once, contrastingly urban when Sue and her family pay a visit to Rita’s house. Otherwise, it’s all set indoors, Bob and Sue’s family’s cosy living rooms and the kitchen where Rita lives; interestingly, we never meet her parents but encountering Sue’s is more than enough.

But the cast is what counts, and what a cast. Let’s get Bob out of the way first, a thoroughly obnoxious Jack The Lad, played with eyewatering gusto by Jake Quickenden. ‘Seducing’ the two schoolgirls is hardly the word, and in fact, it’s hard to work out what exactly they see in him particularly since his attentions are barely flattering at all. But his performance is mesmeric, which maybe helps explain things. Kay Nicholson and Jenna Sian O’Hare are marvellous as Rita and Sue, capturing their childishness in word and deed, and pulling faces, and the contrast with early onset maturity. With their cast iron loyalty and casual betrayals, they are completely true to life, and filled with such joie de vivre, despite their unpromising situation, they are the heart of the play. Indeed, they give the play its heart.

On the downside, the other specimen of manhood, Warren Donnelly, Sue’s Dad, bumbles around in an alcoholic haze, and while she is the apple of her mother’s eye, to him, she is little more than a worm. As Mum, one of Siobhan Phillips’ best scenes is when she confronts Rita, whom of course she blames for leading Sue astray. And again, when she rolls up drunk, dressed to the nines with everything else down to zero, providing us with a Master class on how to not ascend a bar stool. And finally, as alas, she seems always destined to be, the longsuffering Michelle who despite it all, still loves her wayward husband. Jessica Ellis puts in a fine performance, ranging from knockabout comedy (and posh telephone voice) to the dignity and poignance of tragedy, leaving you thankful that by the end, she is allowed the tiniest flicker of hope.

Out of these inauspicious circumstances and unappealing characters, Andrea Dunbar managed to create a comedy full of pungent wit andrazor sharp observation, which is enhanced by the 80s costume and above all, the music. Many theatres would have got the bargepole out and steered well clear of hosting such a controversial production so fair play (because it certainly isn’t) to the Floral Pavilion. It’s a shame it was not a sell-out audience but everybody there made up for it with a rapturous reception, and applauding the good bits throughout. But you’re not just here to enjoy yourself; it may seem peculiarly Northern, but this play encompasses what goes on all over the country – people everywhere should see for themselves and make their own judgement.

Reviewer: Carole Baldock

Reviewed: 25th February 2025

North West End UK Rating: