Dreaming and hoping

Photo: Joel C Fildes

Gemma Wardle, Rachel Leskovac and Sally Carman in "Dreamers"

DREAMERS
(Oldham Coliseum)

EVERYONE has a Dreamers, the nightclub that made us think we could do it all, even if only for a night at the weekend.

People from Oldham who went to the one local writers Cathy Crabb and Lindsay Williams’ (who really did go there) describe in this musical play will relish the nostalgia night all the more.

With its raucous energy, classic Nineties songs, all-woman cast and production team (except for director Kevin Shaw) and panto-worthy local references, there’s a lot to enjoy and the writers are to be aplauded for having a go at a form - musicals - not exactly familiar to them.

Friends Izzy (Sally Carman) and Toni (Rachel Leskovac), Adele (Gemma Wardle), Roz (Justine Elzabeth Bailey) and others visit the club every weekend for a good time. Roz and Izzy share a dark secret that leads to an event that shapes their adult lives - as we see in the second act, set 20 years later, when care-home girl Izzy is, implausibly, a French movie star, Adele has her own factory and money, Toni is at a loss and Roz has a dull life. All is resolved - up to a point - and they break into the (now closed) club for a musical finale.

The show has more detail than can be gone into here but its theme of life choices - we don’t always get what we dream about - is an obvious lesson for all.

Good though the idea is and as strong as the cast might be, the work itself perhaps tries too hard. The focus is Izzy, Roz and Toni, but all the other stories diffuse that one’s power, and the 20 year gap between acts dulls it further, made worse by some confusing doubling of actors and their multiple characters (though the likes of Rachel Austin and Lauryn Redding both stand out).

The music is an odd mix of original (by Carol Donaldson), Indie classics from the Smiths, the Cure and others and new lyrics to familiar tunes - all of which add energy. But the big second act number (from Gemma Wardle, voice great) is a bit pointless, since a minor character is singing it.

But what annoys isn’t the show but the sound. The Coliseum’s sound system is awful: plummy and lacking clarity. There’s no point in writing good lyrics when no one can hear them.