Writer: Andrea Dunbar
Director: Andrew Ashley
Andrea Dunbar’s fierce and funny play has, in a sense, been overtaken by events. The passing of time gives a different perspective on the Thatcher years: we are less likely to be amused by the effects of deprivation. Dunbar’s wayward life-style and sad early death tend to overshadow her work. Most of all, the hint is there in the montage of 1980s images that precedes the play. Among the innocence of Grange Hill and Hi-de-Hi there it is – a Jim’ll Fix it badge!
Quite simply we are much more aware of the sexual exploitation of children these days. That riotous opening scene, Rita and Sue taking their turn on the car’s reclining seats, causes more than a flicker of unease despite their eager compliance. Yet it is very funny, from Bob’s explanation of how to fit a condom to Rita’s matter-of-fact questions about what’s going on – and Bob’s exasperated reaction at being put off his stride!
So how do you approach Rita, Sue and Bob Too today? For this Yorkshire tour for Diva Productions, Andrew Ashley plays for laughs, but frames the action within clips of Margaret Thatcher at various stages of her premiership and newsreel shots that place it within an age of industrial strife.
The other remarkable feature of the production is the presence of five actors making their professional debuts out of a cast of seven, including George North in the oddly underwritten part of Sam. The remaining four do well, though there is a touch of music-hall about the comical sparring of Sue’s parents (Andrew Ashley and Alison Gibson). There is a danger, as much due to Dunbar’s irresistibly sparky writing, of finding Dad’s brutality and Mum’s foul-mouthed aggression simply funny, rather than funny and disturbing.
Charlotte Spowage is an effective Michelle, Bob’s wife, raging convincingly when required, and Dale Vaughan makes no attempt to solve the conundrum of Bob: he comes out as amiable, weak, certainly no monster, enjoying sharing his secret with the girls until Michelle’s suspicions and his financial problems spoil his holiday from reality. The only cast members with previous professional experience, Emma Hooker (Rita) and Polly Lovegrove (Sue), carry the production with superb aplomb, from mischievous schoolgirls to growing awareness of their problems and responsibilities.
It’s an immensely entertaining production, perhaps rather less disturbing than it should be, played in a simple but attractive style in front of projections for scenery, with some great 80s music covering the between-scenes changes in furniture. Everyone – Dad excepted, of course – did look very clean and smart though!
Runs until 8th October 2022, before continuing on tour.
