The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice At The Lowry, Salford Review

Reviewed by Cath Joyce

It’s been a good while since I watched the film Little Voice which starred Michael Caine and Jane Horrocks and what better place to see the stage show than at The Lowry theatre in Salford, a great Northern town, not far from where writer Jim Cartwright was born.

Little Voice tells the story of Laura Hoff, an only child, otherwise known as LV (Little Voice) because of her soft, quiet voice. Following the death of her father, she seeks solace in her father’s record collection, spending all her time listening to his old records in her bedroom. As the story unfolds, we discover she has a talent for impersonating the voices of her idols such as Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe and Shirley Bassey.

Little Voice, played by Christiana Bianco, spends much of the play speaking in a quiet, almost childlike voice, the result of years of submitting to her overbearing mother. With a script largely limited to one word responses, Bianco uses her considerable acting talent to portray the timid young woman that she has become. Her mother, Mari, played by the very talented Shobna Gulati is an alcoholic, middle aged widow, desperate for a man, and who thinks she’s in luck when local talent agent Ray Say, played by former Emmerdale actor Ian Kelsey, shows an interest in her. Unfortunately for her, Ray’s interest is quickly diverted when he hears Mari’s daughter, Little Voice, singing in her room and quickly spots her potential and his ticket to the big time.

The play is very much a comedy and Shobna had the audience in stitches with her desperate attempts to seduce Ray and have her wicked way with him! The start of the second half introduced us to the brilliant William Ilkley, playing local nightclub owner Mr Boo, he had the compere’s patter off to a tee and played a very convincing part. There were a great many visual gags too – the green corn flakes in the kitchen and the fridge that nobody dare open were a couple that stick in the mind.

The set was visually very impressive, being a typical northern two-up-two-down terrace house but with the front wall missing. However, when Little Voice was upstairs in her bedroom she was pretty much hidden from the audience and we were unable to see her from where we sat. The house’s dodgy electrics were used very cleverly to allow scene changes and became an important part of the plot later in the show. When the story moved away from Mari’s house we were transported to Mr Boo’s nightclub, which with its sparkly curtain was typical of any northern working man’s club.

Whilst we enjoyed the show we were a little disappointed that we didn’t get to hear more of Christiana’s singing.

I would definitely recommend this show however the content and language is not suitable for children.

You can see this amazing production at The Lowry, Salford until Sat 11 June

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tickets cost from £19 plus £3 transaction fee

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is at The Lowry, Salford from Monday 6th June to Saturday 11th June.
For more information or to book tickets visit https://thelowry.com/whats-on/the-rise-and-fall-of-little-voice/ or call the box office on 0343 208 6000

Address: Pier 8, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ