REVIEW: Stepping Out
By Gary Murray, volunteer theatre reviewer
This year’s summer season presentation at the Devonshire Park Theatre is Stepping Out, written in 1984 by Richard Harris.
Given our preference for the underdog, the plot will be familiar. A bunch of no-hopers with back stories come to a weekly tap-dancing class at the village hall and are eventually whipped into shape by the ex-pro who runs the class.
You may remember ITV’s Fat Friends a few years back where a group of no-hopers attend a weekly slimming class, etc, etc. Think of this as Fat Friends with tap shoes.
Written when a phone was a solid hunk of plastic tethered to a wall in your home and mail only arrived in paper envelopes, it’s nonetheless been updated to include references to online job applications and mobiles.
Designer Julie Godfrey has given us an archetypal high-staged village hall complete with parish notices and enticements to join line-dancing and yoga classes.
"The cast work hard ... but the writing doesn’t always serve them well."
The class is run by Mavis (Karen Hauer of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing fame). On piano accompaniment is Mrs Fraser (Felicity Duncan), a sour-faced woman, unable to tolerate fun at any price. Into the mix comes Vera (former EastEnder Lucy Benjamin) who could best be described as bossy with mitigating circumstances.
They are a disparate bunch of fairly stock characters, the brassy one, the bossy one, the timid one, etc, all sadly underwritten. There’s a bit of occasional back-story but with the emotional depth of a Carry On film, nothing is ever resolved. The cast work hard to overcome this but the writing doesn’t always serve them well.
Given that Mavis is an ex-professional and has to have a highly competent level of dance ability and some acting chops, casting the role must be tricky.
On the first count there is, of course, absolutely no doubt. Karen Hauer is a superb dancer. On the acting side, not so much. At the moment she is a little underpowered, but I think she will grow into it. Again, she’s not helped by the fact that as soon as anyone reveals anything interesting, they’re required to storm off stage for a bit.
There’s also some good work by Laura Tyrer as Andy, and Ben Stock as Geoffrey. Andy has a yearning for Geoffrey, the only male in the group.
There’s inevitably an upbeat ending, but it’s an awfully long time coming.
:: Stepping Out runs at the Devonshire Park Theatre until Saturday 29 August. Tickets here
:: Gary Murray was a professional actor for 14 years in theatre, radio, TV and even a couple of operas. After many years on the tech side of ticketing, he now works at non-profit Tech Resort sharing digital skills and is a volunteer reviewer for Eastbourne Reporter
