Review of The Gut Girls by University of Northampton BA Actors at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

After over two years away from seeing the BA Actors of the University of Northampton on stage, it was a delight to be back to see the final year students in their two performances on the Royal stage at Royal & Derngate.

The first of the two plays I got to see was The Gut Girls by Sarah Daniels, and I genuinely wish that after that gap in attendance I had a much better show to return with. During The Gut Girls, I continued to hope that more of a spark would appear on stage. Sadly, after over two and a half hours, that spark struggled to show.

Even now as I write this review, I can’t quite put my finger on why that spark isn’t there, whether it is the play itself from Daniels (unlikely, as it is a well-regarded play), or whether the cast for whatever reason did not jell and enthuse over the material. What occurred however was something that felt a little under-rehearsed even if maybe in reality it wasn’t. Either way, the scenes did not flow, there wasn’t a constant move of dialogue that you would expect in conversation with these work colleagues.

The play itself tells the story of a group of female workers in Deptford Foreign Cattle Market and their camaraderie over long hours and a hard-working environment. Added to the mix is Lady Helena, who, through her setting up of a group, hopes to better the prospects and social abilities of those workers.

The Gut Girls, while in a very different setting, reminded me often of another University show of a previous year, Blue Stockings, in its telling, very much of a female perspective and the issues they suffered. As a performance though it was a significantly lesser quality affair.

There was, despite all my negatives, much to like. I really enjoyed Ro Kelly as the jocular Polly, her winning style brightening the stage whenever present. Also, Lauren Akkaker-Toms was an excellent, spirited Kate, who performed the progression of her character nicely, from being one of the girls, and to someone who doesn’t wish to be seen with them. Also enjoyable was Aaron Mackenzie in his quartet of characters and was clearly having a lot of fun performing them which translated to the audience.

Elsewhere, I just felt many of the roles were not as confidently performed and many were simply performed in such a stereotypical way, to make depth and feeling for the characters' plights worthless.

Sure, this is all extremely tough reviewing, and I really hate having to do so, and actually, to give some leverage, I know that this year group, graduating this year, has been the most challenged with training, study, and of course, the chance to shine in front of an audience because of covid. For that, this is an incredible shame.

However, I can only comment on what I see, and sadly, as a performance, The Gut Girls was lacking in the style, sharpness and brilliance of BA Actors shows of the past.

Missing the sharpness of old, despite a few strong performances.
⭐⭐⭐

Performance reviewed: Thursday 12th May 2022 at the Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton.

The Gut Girls ran at Royal & Derngate until Saturday 14th May 2022.

The Gut Girls was presented by final year actors at the University of Northampton

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A Small Mind At The Theatre

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