Room for More
HUGH SULLIVAN
There’s a famous scene in the Marx Brothers’ film A Night at the Opera with an impromptu party in the cramped cabin of a transatlantic liner. More and more people gatecrash – passengers, waiters and other cabin crew – until the room becomes impossibly overfilled; or rather there’s an illusion of overfilling by the cameras rolling back to increase the real space available.
No such conjuring trick was available at the Battle Memorial Hall last week for a production of the musical comedy Me and My Girl from BatTS (Battle Theatrical Society). The already confined stage space was limited further by a backdrop screen depicting the battlements of the fictional stately home of the Hareford family. Yet it accommodated, for several song and dance numbers, a cast of up to 37 performers.
And if you think that was something of a crush, imagine the dressing rooms and corridors backstage, where most of the said 37 had multiple costumes changes, sometimes with only a short breathing space before their next entry.
Of course only a strictly amateur company could assemble such numbers, which is what gives such productions their exuberant flavour. But BatTS also appear able to spotlight lead performers of notable talent and control.
Oli Albertella, playing the central role of Bill Snibson, a low-life Lambeth cockney identified as the heir to the Hareford estate, exuded effortless confidence. His taskwas to establish himself as acceptable family scion while retaining an indissoluble union with “my girl Sally”. Whether he was extolling her virtues, evading the advances of Lady Jacqueline (Amelia Jolley), or playfully picking the pocket of the Duchess’s admirer Sir John (David Nicholles), the audience could be sure that he would come out on top.
Nancy Dyer, as Sally, had the more difficult role: persuading us he would have to choose between retaining her love, or the family fortune. But she also commanded the stage, setting off a sweet demeanour with powerful vocal chords, the title song, Me and My Girl, giving the game away:
It’s no use pretending
We knew the ending
A long time ago.
Stand-out song was The Lambeth Walk, the classic showstopper before the interval drinks. To accommodate the full ensemble, leading performers spilled out to dance on past the band below and up the audience aisles – and on Wednesday night, apparently, the whole auditorium rocked to the chorus:
Everything’s free and easy
Do as you darn well please-y
The programme notes stated that BatTS changed their name from BLOG (Battle Light Opera Group) a couple of years ago “to reflect our shift in focus towards more contemporary shows, plays and social events”. If this was what was meant by more contemporary, so be it.
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