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A musical prison drama based on the popular TV series, 'Bad Girls'.
ACT I
The story opens with the arrival at HMP Larkhall of frightened new inmate, Rachel. As she is led to her cell the other inmates come out and introduce themselves I shouldn't be here. Prison officer Jim Fenner ingratiates himself to the young girl by promising to watch over her. Shell Dockley, prisoners 'Top Dog' on the wing who has been granting sexual favours to Fenner, does not like the attention that he is giving the new girl and with her gang invades Rachel's cell to intimidate her An Angel Like You. Rachel complains to Fenner, and also confides in him of her fears over regaining custody of her child once her sentence is over. Fenner again promises to watch over her and claims to have contacts who can help her on the outside once her sentence is over. Fenner and fellow officer Sylvia 'Bodybag' Hollamby are unhappy with the lenient approach of new wing governor Helen Stewart and are keen to see her demise so they can run the wing their way Jailcraft. Laura orders prisoner Nikki to be transferred to an upgraded cell prior to her coming appeal, but to sabotage her case Fenner agitates the other prisoners against her causing her to be involved in a fight. Laura visits her in the punishment block, overturning Fenner's decisiona and releasing her One Moment. The two Julies, former prostitutes jailed for robbing their clients, try to overhear Fenner talking to Rachel but are sent about their duties, scrubbing floors A Life of Grime. Another new inmate arrives, tough talking Yvonne, the wife of a gangster, she is not at all intimidated by Dockley and quickly stakes a claim to replace her as top dog A-List. Night falls, the prisoners are locked up and Fenner is alone on duty, with the power to enter any cell for any reason The Key. He enters Rachel's cell and she soon learns the price he expects her to pay for the protection he has afforded. The fragile girl is overcome by the rape and the following morning is found hanging in her cell. The other prisoners are angered at the needless death, for which they know Fenner to be responsible. They rebel against the prison warders That's the way it is and start a riot.
ACT II
The riot is subdued and the prisoners back in their cells. Prisoner Crystal seeks solace in her religion Freedom Road. Fenner id happy that his plan to discredit Laura is proceeding as planned The Future is Bright. The two Julies go on strike in protest against Fenner, who gives Dockley and her side-kick Denny their jobs serving food. They see this as a chance to demand respect from their fellow inmates P-P-P-Please. Prisoner Julie S calls her son who has been taken into foster care and learned for the first time that she is in prison Sorry. Laura summons Nikki to her office to give her a pep-talk about her appeal. Simmering just below the surface is a deep attraction between these two which current circumstances will not allow, but if Nikki earns her release ... Every Night. Back on the wing some of the women are struggling to come to terms with their lack of male company All Banged Up. Fenner's plot against Laura has almost come to fruition. It seems she is being forced out of her job and Fenner is the leading candidate to replace her. Caring warden Justin is as convinced as the inmates that Fenner played a part in Rachel's death and teams up with inmates to thwart his plans. To gather evidence against him however, they need to persuade Shell to come over to their side The Baddest and the Best. Shell, having been convinced that Fenner has only been using her, joins forces with the other inmates in bid to trap Fenner. When Fenner comes to her cell to collect his favours she lures him in and uses his handcuffs to handcuff him to the bed First Lady. Fenner is unaware that the cell has been rigged with a hidden camera which is patched in to the prison security network. Fenner is caught on camera, his career destroyed. Just then their is a power cut, with the camera down Shell extracts her own personal revenge by setting fire to the bed to which Fenner has allowed himself to be handcuffed The Baddest and the Best [Reprise]. Laura is reinstored as wing governor and life looks brighter for the inmates This is my life.
This was a remarkably upbeat production given the subject matter involved, and contains a number of memorable toe-tapping tunes. The action ranges from the poignant, to the sublime, to the outright farcical in an all-round assault on the emotions. There is no real leading role in the play, the action at various times features various characters. Rachel, for example is quite prominent in the first act but of course is totally absent from the second.
The music ranges from soft ballads to barnstorming showstoppers, whilst the drama element is gripping but never takes itself too seriously. One of the highpoints of the show was a 40's style song and dance routine complete with canes for villains Fenner and Bodybag! The incongruity of the characters only added to the impact and it worked superbly well, getting the most enthusiastic applause of the night. Much of the humour in the piece in fact centred around these two making them far more sympathetic characters than they probably deserved to be. Fenner especially was a thoroughly unscrupulous character but so oozed charm and innocence that you could not help liking him. The other main comedy pairing were the streetwise hookers, the two Julies. Although it had only been running for one week prior to this performance it already looks incredibly polished and one thing that stood out was the obvious enjoyment that was written on the face of every single cast member whenever they completed a song. It really drew you in and made you want to up there on stage performing with them.
The set is a two tiered affair with rows of cell doors on both levels through which the cast appear and disappear. The upper tier is a 'U' shaped balcony terminating in a spiral steel staircase to the lower level at both ends. On the lower level the back wall is divided and slides apart to allow different sub-sets for the kitchen serving hatch and individual cell interiors to slide through from behind. For the cells, side walls slide on from the wings and a section of floor flips over to pop up a toilet bowl. At times, the entire back wall (both tiers) lifts away to reveal the outside exercise yard. All in all the technical engineering of the set and the smoothness of the transitions was very impressive. Costumes were of course prison uniforms for the guards and casual street wear for the inmates. The one exception being Fenner's dream sequence of his elevation to governor which is conducted with full Hollywood style razzmatazz with virtually the entire cast in glitzy highly stylised uniforms.
Hal Fowler gave an incredible performance as Jim Fenner. His singing voice is melodious and his performance as the oily charmer was so winning that you almost wanted to be on his side. So much so that the obligatory boos from the audience for the villain sounded almost apologetic. His song and dance routine with Rachel Izen as fellow warder Sylvia 'Bodybag' Hollamby was excellently executed and extremely enjoyable. The latter was a cynical but drolly humourous character who follows in Fenners footsteps. Nicole Faraday was one of two cast members to have appeared in the TV series and was for me the other standout performer on the night as the brassy prison bully Shell Dockley. She belted out two of the shows most memorable numbers in P-P-P-Please and First Lady (duet with Fenner). Laura Rogers was the other graduate of the TV series and as the rather prim but caring Wing Governor Helen Stewart was set somewhat apart from the main body of the cast. Her rendition of Every Night with Hannah Waddingham as Nikki Wade was very touching. The latter also gave a sterling performance as the angry young woman jailed for a stabbing she committed in self-defence. Elaine Glover played the frightened newbie Rachel and though she had no featured songs gave the best dramatic performance on the night. Louise Plowright and Julie Jupp were empyreal as the inseperable two Julies and gave us the two best comedy numbers of the night with A Life of Grime and All Banged Up. Joining them in the latter was Ellen O'Grady as Yvonne Atkins, all three turning into vamps and draping themelves over sympathetic warder justin Mattison, played by Neil McDermott. Rounding off the cast were Michael N Harbour as the officious Number One, Dawn Hope as bible-bashing inmate Crystal Gordon, Amanda Posener as angry young inmate Denny Blood, Tricia Deighton as inmate Norren Biggs, Emma Bispham as inmate Kat Jenkins, Richard Costello as warder Roger Brunton and Siubhan Harrison as inmate Spike (who was somethiin of a background character until the very end when she revealed a beautiful singing voice I have liked to have heard more of).
Guilty your honour - of providing an unmissable evening of first class entertainment. If this production doesn't deserve a run in the West End you can lock me up and throw away the key.