Trinity Theatre’s latest production dusted away the cobwebs with laughs aplenty in Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood’s ‘Dirty Dusting’.
The play centres on three mature friends, Elsie (Maria Wilkinson), Gladys (Fiona Gwinnett), and Olive (Julie Stonestreet) during a Friday night shift at the office block where they are all employed as cleaners. Having just found out that the company is restructuring and they’re to be let go due to their ages, the ladies stumble across a lucrative idea to boost their redundancy pay – opening a sex chat line. Cue hilarious one-liners, depictions of crotchless underwear and cosplay that had the audience in side-splitting giggles, in a style similar to that of a carry-on film.
With only four actors in the cast, this play demands a skilled team to hold the audience’s attention. Maria, Julie and Fiona were perfectly cast as the three friends, each acting their socks off. The camaraderie on stage was heart-warming. Each character had a story arc that happily climaxed (oo-err missus!) to see each woman evolve as a result of her friendship with the other two. Bravo to these three talented actresses. How they kept straight faces given some of their lines, I’ll never know!
Dave Newton was perfect as the friends’ arch nemesis and boss, Dave. He was sneery, vindictive and vitriolic in equal measure. Without giving anything away, his last scene was poetry in motion!
Not once did their northern accents drop, and the dialogue moved with good pace without any lines being missed by the audience.
The set was a simple office floor, which worked well with the action on stage. The show had a fair few sound and lighting cues (Peter Ferguson) which were perfectly timed and really added to the show’s success.
There were some surprising costumes (Liz Santer) which evoked much hilarity.
John Plumbly has directed a fine comedy that left the audience howling with laughter long after the final curtain. A light hearted comedy that also touches on more serious topics of what it is to grow old, workplace bullies and friendship – and a ticket is just £10 for this entertainment!
You can still catch a performance this week Thursday 25th- Saturday 27th April at 7.30pm each night.
Reviewed by Bryony Bishop
IWtheatre 