First off, I think I have to say how much I was looking forward to going to see this play. As a huge fan of the 1998 film starring Jane Horrocks, I was so hopeful that this production was going to be just as impressive, and as moving. It didn’t disappoint.
Designed by Richard Moore and constructed by the brilliant Loft team, the set is gorgeous, cluttered and really brings to life a small, slightly misshapen and run-down northern terrace. I think it might be one of my favourite sets I’ve seen at the Loft so far. What became apparent as the play went on was that it’s also full of wires, power sockets and appliances aplenty… some nice foreshadowing.
It’s a good use of space, too, as Little Voice’s bedroom is permanently elevated above the rest of the house, allowing for an almost constant split-scene action. LV’s room, full of her father’s records, is the perfect safe haven in contrast with the chaos downstairs, a revolving door of larger-than-life characters that just want to invade her space and want to get their own way. I also really enjoyed the “outside” space streetlamp pieces that transition characters in and out of the house, providing some very funny moments.
The rest of the sights and sounds are just as good. The use of music throughout the play, whether across scene changes, LV’s records playing upstairs, or from Mari and Sadie’s obsession with the Jackson 5 on their cassette player (fancy a boogie to I Want You Back, anyone?) really helps to bring the play to life. High praise is also due for Helen Brady’s costuming – there are some truly fantastic choices for both Mari and Ray Say, and I must say I do want to steal Sadie’s cardigan.
When it comes to performances, they are stellar across the board. This feels like a tight-knit cast that works together very well, and it shows.
Lorna Middleton’s Mari, LV’s mother, is brilliantly vile – brash, vitriolic and almost scarily believable – I think everyone will know someone with a bit of Mari about them. Tottering around the stage in hot pink heels and tiny skirts, she would be absolutely hateful if she wasn’t so entertaining. Mari deserves everything she gets, and her downfall will either bring gasps or laughs. Or both.
Mark Crossley’s Ray Say is a piece of work, sleazing around the house in fur coats and open shirts, bling and cigars aplenty. He’s charming – and, like Mari, we are charmed by him at first – but we know deep down he’s a user. He’s quite frankly odious, and his bitter dismissal of Mari towards the end of the play all but confirms it. Crossley and Middleton are theatre magic together, a great pairing for these two largely unlikeable characters.
Charlie Longman’s Billy is a ray of sunshine, sweet, sincere and awkward – not quite the knight-in-shining-armour you might imagine but certainly the only one that really cares for LV. He pitches Billy just right, and the evolution of his relationship with LV feels very genuine and heart-warming. I thoroughly enjoyed Rob Wootton’s no-nonsense club owner Mr Lou Boo, whose interactions with us, the Loft audience, as the audience for LV’s shows, were very funny and well-observed. And Sabrina Spencer as Sadie, with almost no lines except “okay”, gave a truly excellent comic performance (her face alone is fantastic!) and some superb reactions.
The role of Little Voice is certainly a strange one – to be able to go from mousey, to a belting parade of singing superstars and then back again, is no mean feat. But Nona Davies not only manages this, she excels.
As well as being able to go from meek and timid to diva, Davies has the additional challenge of never really being “off”, always above the action, always in her own little world with her records. She truly embodies the young girl beaten down by her mother’s criticism, her emotions and reactions spot-on. But it’s when Little Voice transforms that we really see the depth of her talent.
And when I say she transforms, I mean it. Not only in costume (!), but from the moment the opening bars of Big Spender can be heard, she’s another person entirely. And I beamed. Her impersonations of everyone from Judy Garland to Cher are very well done (earning a lot of impressive audience reactions around me) in both performance and in vocals. Suddenly, LV is the superstar, and she all but lives it until she shrinks back into her self-doubt and fear.
But as the play’s title might suggest, with LV’s rise comes her fall, and this fall is not only brilliantly acted, but with some top-class tech thrown in. Without spoiling the ending of the play, LV finally finds her voice. The final culmination of Billy’s light show and Little Voice’s talent is a really moving moment. There were lots of slightly teary smiles around me, and quite right too.
Viki Bett’s directorial debut at the Loft is certainly going to be one to remember. A visually stunning and excellently-acted production, she really does succeed in bringing Jim Cartwright’s “northern fairytale” to life.
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice runs until Saturday the 22nd of July – I suggest you buy yourself a ticket.
-Vicky Holding
DownstageWrite 
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