Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour

Watching tonight! Can't wait!

I'd say that the West End is a more natural home than the NT for a populist show like this although, ironically, it needed a limited NT run to establish it sufficiently in London to draw a big enough audience to survive in a West End theatre.

Yes sadly a friend who works FOH told me it wasn't really selling, which is a great shame. I really hope it makes it to the end of the run (not least so I stand a chance of bloody seeing it)

Caught this the other evening thanks to a £20 Today Tix Rush Ticket.

It wasn't especially my cup of tea...not because I was shocked (although I think I was supposed to be) but that I felt I had seen it all before (and better) - Once A Catholic by Mary O'Malley back in the late 70's. John Godber's Bouncers and Teechers and more recently Spring Awakening.

The audience reaction around me was very diverse with people in front of me and to the side sat in stony silence and people behind laughing heartily throughout.

I could not fault the splendid performances and the superb singing of the cast though.

No, they won't go anywhere near you.

Saw the matinee this afternoon and absolutely bloody LOVED it in a way that I really had no idea that I would, as did my friend who I went with. Both of us left the theatre quite speechless at the impact that 1hr 45 had on us. Just flew by and I was sad to see it end. Brilliant choices of music to set the background of these girls' lives played by an equally brilliant group of ladies but those 6 central performances are breathtaking. What insanely talented young ladies they were - I was completely drawn in by each and every one of them and I was gladly taken on a non-stop roller coaster of emotions from beginning to end as I just sat back and let the play engulf me. Their acting as a group was sensational, as was their more solo moments. Fantastic characterisation of all the multitude of characters they each played and whilst the explicit level of language and conversation can sometimes be hard to sit through, I believe there were some really outstanding episodic moments that had quite a lot to say for themselves far beyond just the words they were saying. A lot of the humour was definitely my sense of humour, the foul language is definitely no cause of offence to me and the audience response was fantastic, with a partial standing ovation at the end.

I completely understand comparisons to Spring Awaking with their microphones and stands and a group of young individuals finding out about life and love, about what they do know, what they don't know and what they wish they had been taught. Coming to terms with themselves, figuring out who they are, what they are and making no apologies for it. A real part of society presented with no judgement, unless you choose to do so. But these girls' lives are shaped by more than what you see on stage and to judge them by what is presented purely in that 1hr 45mins does them a severe injustice. You can 'blame' the girls themselves for behaving as they do if you want, but to me that seems to me like a very lazy get-out clause for not liking what you see and hear. There are reasons behind everything, that can be deciphered in many different ways if you so wish. Some of these girls are clearly very troubled and would be done some justice not to be dismissed by society but helped, if it were possible. How I don't know, but to me, that would be more conducive than dismissing them entirely.

I sometimes get bored with the very over-used directorial device of "less is more" - an almost bare stage, lots of miming, using every day objects to create scenes/sets/props etc, but these ladies absolutely made it work. A real fantastic piece of storytelling that I am so happy to have caught. Hugely recommended - but NOT for the faint-hearted!

I was at the matinee also and plumped for the on stage seating. It was a pleasant evening out and on the whole I did enjoy it, however I didn't quite understand a lot of the "jokes?" There were lots of parts where there was muted tittering coming from the audience and I felt that a tad confusing. I got the impression it was trying a bit too hard to be funny in places, and it definitely wasn't as shocking as I expected it to be.

I can understand why some people find this offensive, perhaps with the links to a Catholic Church and the promiscuity of the girls. But in comparison to Book of Mormon, which is hugely popular, this is fairly pedestrian. Chelle's sister/aunt story was brilliantly hilarious, plus the stories of Fionulla and Kay were touching, as was Orla's.

A nice afternoon out but at 1 hour and 45 minutes I really could've done with a comfort break!