Di and Viv and Rose At Theatre By The Lake Keswick Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Jo Hardy

A Theatre by the Lake and Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch production.

Written by the very talented Amelia Bullmore and set in the 80’s/ 90. ‘s the story starts with the three girls meeting at University, they share a house and strong friendships are built, it goes on to follow their
lives after University and the different paths they take.

Set in the “round” so there was a feeling of being very involved with the story and close to the characters.

With a cast of only three Amelia Donker, Sally Hodgkiss and Olivia Sweeny I could clearly see the different personalities of the characters, and it made me realise that with the right blend of different you can make a strong mix.

There was a lot of humour and some phrases that I can’t repeat here that will stay with me, there was also a dark side and just like in life these dark things came completely out of the blue and were a shock to me, I could hear gasps from the audience too.

The set was very simple with just a few key pieces from the era, after the interval these props were hanging from the ceiling, a powerful visual that we were moving on in the story but the past was still there. I was amused by the way the telephone represented the time in history, the opening scene was Rose on a pay phone then when they moved into the house they had a cream phone with a curly cord attached the first mobile we saw had an aerial that had to be extended and towards the end of the show we heard the familiar mobile phone ring. The costumes were true fashions of the era she’ll suits etc and I absolutely loved all the music that was scattered throughout the play.

My favourite scene was when all three girls meet up Rose is late so they don’t have long together she is also exhausted (I don’t want to spoil the story by saying why) so falls asleep and the other two decide they will have to go back on the train with her to make sure she gets home ok, it showed true friendship and tenderness.

Can friendships last when lives take different paths ? this is the question I had until the very end of this show.

The play was very entertaining, it also made me think about my own life and the friendships I have formed. It contains sex, sexual violence, death, illness and grief so may not be for everybody but I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it for a girls night out, the perfect show for a group of friends.

Rating: 5/5

Di and Viv and Rose is showing at Theatre by the Lake from 19th September to 11th October The shows starts at 7:30 but there are also some 2 pm matinees on selected dates, it is 2 hours 30 minutes with an interval and ticket prices start at £12 suitable for ages 14 and up.

Ticket can be booked via the theatre website theatrebythelake.com