Win/Lose/Draw, Waterloo East Theatre

By E.J

So, yesterday I heard that Craig Revel Horwood is taking on the role of Miss Hannigan in Annie. Yup, you read that right. Miss Hannigan in Annie.

Now, I don’t know about you, but when I was in Annie as an 11 year old, pillow fighting, bursting into spontaneous song and scrabbling around on stage with the other orphans, as much as I bloody loved it I always used to gaze at the drunk, bedraggled, smudged glamour of Miss Hannigan and think. – “That’s best role in this play. When I’m old enough… when I’m old enough.’

Now I am definitely old enough and thousands of other actresses are too, they have given that mind numbingly brilliant role to…. a man. Oh great. What a SURPRISE. Why are there never any well written, well observed, funny women on stage?!

With this familiar war cry in my ears it was with a lifted heart that I made my way to Waterloo East last night for a theatrical triptych courtesy of Win/Lose/Draw by Go People. A show with three female actors and written by two females as they present ‘a panorama of the world from a female point of view.’ Excellent!

I was greeted with a stage filled with the everyday, a sofa, a desk and chair all lovingly cluttered with life: notepads, cushions, baby things. It could have been any space, anywhere really. And that was the point. As the show began the three actors entered neutrally, opened up two chairs, and with a simple show of character (putting on a neck scarf), we were off.

‘Little Miss Fresno’

WIN: With a quick flick of a denim jacket collar we were with Ginger and Doris, two mothers meeting for the first time while watching their little darlings compete in a Californian beauty pageant. One is a trashy, seasoned pro of a stage mum, the other a well-meaning Stepford wife type and while they observe their little girls ‘talents’ the true competition really begins. While Ginger (Lucy Eaton) boasts of all the trophies at home, and how her daughter is just “super chilled out” about the pageants, Doris (Melanie Heslop), just wants her little one to be a finalist; they’re only doing it for fun after all! Sure.

Both Eaton and Heslop were impeccable in their comedy timing (and accents!) and I couldn’t stop laughing! The backhanded compliments, the backtracked boasts, the over enthusiastic laughs were all point perfect as we watched these proud mothers battle for supremacy through their daughters. Brilliant.

‘Final Placement’

LOSE: In sharp contrast to the light hilarity of ‘Little Miss Fresno’ with a few movements of set we were transported to a child welfare office in Oklahoma where a voice recorder scratchily began to tell us the sad case details of a little boy named Jimmy. The social worker Mary Hanson (Charlotte Purton) is visibly uncomfortable as an uninvited Luellen enters her office and gently requests some time with her. The voice recorder continues to intermittently cut through the scene like a flashback, and it is only then we begin to understand why Mary is nervous. And she should be.

Melanie Heslop is gorgeous as Luellen, totally transformed from the previous scene into a young, unsure, innocent. We feel for her as she brushes aside her 10 mile walk through the scorching heat and the blisters from her ‘smart shoes’ and she very delicately plays Luellen’s tactics so that she unravels before our eyes.

There is history behind these two women meeting and the juxtapositions with the recordings are beautifully timed, building the tension and pace dramatically as the two young women begin to struggle. Despite never quite reaching its climax the audience was hooked, and it was almost with relief that we entered into the third and final scene, looking for some light relief.

‘Chocolate Cake’

DRAW: Finally we were invited into Annemarie Fitzers (Eaton) hotel room in Massachusetts where she is desperately trying to resist the temptation of a big, fat, chocolate cake. Just at the point where the lettuce leaves aren’t satisfying her and she succumbs, she is disturbed by Delia Baron (Purton), a glamourous, manic New Yorker that has cabin fever and likes to eat. A Lot. This seemingly opposite pair bond over their use of food to fill their loneliness and the revelations begin.

Ara Watson and Mary Gallagher write complex, funny and engaging women beautifully with really sparky natural dialogue. However ‘Chocolate Cake’ felt a bit less fresh and punchy than the first two. This was down to lines being rushed. The words weren’t given the space they needed and the comedy was lost, which made the subject feel more predictable.

Ultimately it was refreshing to see so many interestingly written female characters on stage with some really accomplished performances to match, and this is exactly what British Theatre needs more of, more women shining in roles written for them. Roles we understand, and fit and love. Like Miss Hannigan.

Waterloo East Theatre 23rd September - 5th October Tuesday-Saturday 7:30pm

Sunday 4pm

Twitter: @PostScriptJour

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