Review of: The Stepping Out, by Richard Harris. Directed by Vara Williams

Courtesy of the Hampshire Chronicle

[Details page for this production]

Hampshire Chronicle Tuesday 14th July 2009

Best foot forward for Stepping Out

Chesil Theatre, Winchester, ends its summer season this week with a
sizzling toe-tapper, Stepping Out, which gets a superb production.

Richard Harris's play has rightly been a popular choice of theatres for
years and it has also been filmed.

The idea is a simple one. A group of women meet every week in a draughty
church hall and indulge their love of dancing.

But as they stumble and restart their steps, we learn more and more about
their lives, and it transpires that most are there to escape, from a boring
husband, or a life they can't call their own or because they just want
company.

In the middle of all these ladies is their teacher, Mavis, who not only has
to show them their tap steps but also listen to their problems and tries to
help them. She has to contend with the old-fashioned, fuddy-duddy , Mrs
Fraser, who accompanies them on the piano and manages to be very difficult
most of the time.

Gradually, it all comes together and Mavis's dancers put on a sparkling
show for a local charity.

It's not all plain sailing, of course, and plenty of problems come tumbling
out.

There are eight women dancers, all played very well by the Chesil cast,
brilliantly directed by Vara Williams.

One thing that's very interesting about this production is that there is
quite a lot of tap dancing in it, and all the players are excellent at it,
including the token man, Geoffrey, a delightfully vague performance by
Colin Thomas.

The production, which has been sold out for weeks, continues to Saturday,
July 18.

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