Cast sparkles in modern classic

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, George Lawton Hall, Mossley
ONCE again, Mossley AODS reaches the heights other companies aspire to.

Jim Cartwright’s work predates the Shameless generation — stories of the raw, the selfish and the shiftless — by several years and with his heightened dialogue’s poetic forms, makes the appalling almost noble. Almost. But certainly very funny. While the fuss is always made of whoever plays “LV”, the role that made Jane Horrocks’ name — in this case the highly-talented Sofi-Jo Bennett, a teenager from a talented family of performers — it is usually the other characters who provide the play’s depth. This isn’t really just a play about LV, the shy-to-the-point-of-depression teenager with a gift — impersonating Garland, Streisand, Monroe and others — that she won’t show-off in public.

The story is more obviously pointed at LV’s mother Mari, a blousy, semi-alcoholic, foul-mouthed tart who drove her quiet husband to an early grave and is doing the same to her daughter.

The result, we are shown, is that Mari and her friends — including seedy manager Ray Say and equally-unpleasant club boss Lew Boo — have aspirations that far outweigh their talents and opportunities.

LV and her would-be beau, the shy Billy — get the chance they deserve, and even dim-witted Sadie, Mari’s only friend, sails blithely on, too dim to care but generous of heart.

As Mari, Mandy Mallinson gets inside the character better than anyone I’ve seen, amateur or professional. She is raucous, selfish and cruel, except to those she perceives as a way out of her dive of a home. Though she started hesitantly, within minutes she was playing the half-mother, half-monster with a brazenness bordering on real life. Very funny, very sad.

Sofi-Jo Bennett is a strong singer with the confidence to mimic the big names — which makes her heart-breaking performance as the closed-in, offstage LV, a tiny mouse of a girl, all the more remarkable.

Paul Alison and Jon Crebbin both shine, albeit sweatily, as would-be manager and “discoverer”, while Lisa Kay is marvellous as Sadie, most people’s favourite character. Even Matt Hassall proves up to the task of the ill-conceived Billy, a sort of idiot savant who, in liking LV, brings her out of her shell while doing the same for himself.

Throw in a terrifically down-at-heel set, some strong business added by director James Schofield and a production working on all cylinders, and it’s another winner for this brave company.