Lisa Riley was friggin' superb. The play was called The Naked Truth and was about a group of women thrown together when they take up pole dancing, each for various reasons - think Calendar Girls and The Full Monty sort of thing. It was hilarious, with lots of witty dialogue, and also had some very serious and moving moments. Lisa was perfect as the witty, feisty BBW of the group.
At the interval a mother and daughter started talking to me in the bar, and we spent the time discussing the play, other theatre shows we'd seen, and the daughter's ambition to be a drama teacher. The mother kept saying to me "You're brave, a male on his own coming here surrounded by all these women." The audience was indeed 95% female, but I explained I'm used to having women around me - I work with mostly women, most of my friends are female and of course there's the ladies' football. The mother just had time to tell me she'd set up and managed a ladies' team in 1968 - and got a reply from Bobby Moore when she wrote asking him for advice - before the five minute bell rang.
When I returned to my seat, one of the group of five high-spirited young women behind me asked if she could look at my programme. When she saw the name of Julie Buckfield, she thought she'd seen her in something before. I asked if she was thinking of Julie's more famous sister Clare; she was.
Also in the cast was Abi Titmuss. I've never been a fan of hers but she did play the pole dancing instructor well. During the finale, when we see all the cast do their dance routines, Ms Titmuss was the most accomplished pole dancer; the woman behind me said to one of her friends "She's done it before, hasn't she?" Julie Buckfield - who looked very sexy in her costume - was also very good on the pole.
After the show I hung back as the crowd filed out, hoping I might get a chance to meet Lisa in one of the bars, but the bars were shut and the front of house staff were getting everyone out of the theatre ASAP :(
Poor Sinead :(
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