Laughs fall at the first fence, then all the others...

AMANDA Whittington’s sequel to “Ladies’ Day at York”, follows the four jackpot-winners on a trip to Australia.

The four are eager to spend some of their £450,000 joint winnings on the holiday of a lifetime, and the play explores the relationship between the dependable Pearl (Annie Sawle), who holds the group together, the loveable but naive Linda (Lucy Beaumont), who struggles to cope with her win.

There is also the brash and extravagant would-be model Shelley (Jemma Walker) — roughened by the difficulties of her childhood — and the larger than life, confidence-lacking Jan (Sue McCormick).

The play is written for laughs. It takes its characters on an epic journey, not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well, yet it fails to deliver on many of the lines.

I found myself waiting in vain for something to make me really laugh, but the most I could manage was a titter or a smile when a line struck home.

Lucy Beaumont’s Linda was my favourite, although it was difficult to say if that was because she was fed the best lines, or if it was her manner of interpretation.

Most of the play was predictable, with nothing spectacular.

Pearl hints in the first half that she has some none-too-happy news to pass on to her buddies but that, too, is predictable, and there is nothing new in the way the scenes surrounding the revelation are played out.

The two male members of the cast had their hands full, playing nine characters between them in this touring production from Hull Truck Theatre.