Talent Review

The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield – until 24 July 2021

Reviewed by Sal E Marino

5*****

Do you remember a time when: you’d had bangers and mash followed by a desert of arctic roll for your tea, drank irn-bru pop, watched Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy wrestle in the morning and then later on – the whole family would settle down to watch ‘New Faces’ …?  Well Talent, written and first performed by Victoria Wood in 1978, will take you right back to that era – from the clothes, music, references of long forgotten popular minor celebrities and foods we used to eat –  to the less savoury and overtly sexist attitudes some had towards women.  

Although I doubt this play was written with the main intent of bringing feminist issues to light and was more simply an autobiographical account of Wood’s own experiences of life (when she was doing the rounds at talent shows), it does now (forty plus years later), highlight what times were like back in the 1970s for young working class women.  Through Julie (Lucie Shorthouse – originally performed by the fabulous Julie Walters) and her pal Maureen (Jamie-Rose Monk – originally played by Victoria Wood herself), we explore the hopes, dreams, confused (and in Julie’s case) reluctant acceptance of their sexual destinies; coupled with the sad bleak outlook that they’ll probably end up in their forties – ‘with a double chin’ and drinking a ‘bottle of gin’.  But, this play is not heavy and obviously themed throughout with serious issues in any sense or form and instead it’s laced wall-to-wall with Ms Wood’s unmistakable unique and stand-out humour!  She had a genius knack of really making you remember ‘what it’s like to be fourteen again’ and laugh at many of the foibles of life in a most heart-warming and nostalgic way. 

Directed by Paul Foster, Talent is set in the back stage dingy dressing room at Bunter’s nightclub, where Julie (a 24 year old secretary), is nervously awaiting her star turn at the talent show with her faithful and less confident pal Maureen.  With many of Wood’s comedies, she often played on the contrast of what were her own insecurities about her body size and low-self esteem against the smaller and more zestful Julie Walters and this is what we see in the characters of Julie and Maureen.  Within the relationship though things do unfold on a deeper level than just the surface comedy of their differences and as the plot unfolds, we learn that Julie, like Maureen,  has her issues and insecurities too that challenge her.  Simply being slimmer and more attractive doesn’t guarantee Julie a  life of success and happiness and it sometimes appears that Maureen is actually more content within her awkward and uncomfortable world.  

Throughout the sketches Julie and Maureen sing an array of light-hearted and very amusing songs that reflect their feelings and observations about life and it’s ups and downs.  We meet a few other characters along the way who really bring the humour home and had the audience laughing out loud.  One being in the form of Arthur, played by the brilliant Richard Cant, who is the lovable side-kick of George (the talented James Quinn) and who just in his opening line had your heart captured with his child-like enthusiasm for a pretty hopeless act fronted by his chum.  Together this duo really do bring back nostalgic memories of characters gone by with their very simple and so-bad-it’s-brilliant ensemble of magic, song and dance.  Arthur brings back to life the voice and disposition of the man from the Hovis bread ads back in the day and his fervour and belief in his pal’s talent, which he lets overshadow his own card tricks, is very touching.

Far less likeable characters come in the form of Mel (Jonathan Ojininaka), an arrogant ex boyfriend of Julie’s who works as a musician at the club.  Through him we learn of Julie’s school-girl pregnancy and the first very hard hurdle in life she was faced with.  Today, Mel would be viewed as being something much worse than what he was back then and as with the comedy hit ‘Rita, Sue and Bob too’, the older man going out with a young teen – not too uncommon back in the 70s –  is something that brings about uncomfortable questions and is totally unacceptable today.  The other oily and sleazy to the extreme character in the play is the compere (Daniel Crossley), who insults and bargains for sex with Julie by telling her she’s, ‘got a mediocre voice, a terrible Lancashire accent, no experience and no act’ – but if she sleeps with him then he’ll make her dreams come true … Five minutes later, he’s telling Maureen to get her girdle off and meet him in his car!  Crossley gives a great performance of this quick-talking slimeball making you feel disgusted by actions and praying that Maureen won’t fall for the obvious fake flattery due to her innocence and naivety. 

Thankfully, our two friends see sense – escape these two leches, Bunter’s (and it’s corrupt competition) and head for a night at the cinema together.  Female friendship and supporting each other wins through and one feels relieved that neither of the women ended up in a bad situation where they’d be used and abused.   Leaving the audience with a smile inside and out, the cast come together to celebrate and sing one last song that gave a wave of whimsical warmth across the theatre. Talent is a must see if you’re a Wood and Walters fan (which most of us are!) and if you want to see a play about a slice of life in a time gone-by, that will uplift your spirits with it’s joke-packed script and delightful, amusing songs then book now – you definitely won’t be disappointed!