Review of Loft Theatre Company production of Daisy Pulls it Off (2011)

It’s end of term at the Loft and, oh gosh, there’s such a lot to do!

Hidden treasure needs to be found, that stuck-up rotter Sybil has to be rescued because she’s dangling over a cliff and, crikey, victory in the hockey final looks beyond reach...

Never mind, mysterious Uncle David is at hand. He’s really called David Hankins, the director, and he’s put in a jolly good effort to enable Daisy, that intrepid scholarship girl, to prove to her rich and privileged classmates that she can indeed pull it off.

But Uncle David is a strict taskmaster. He doesn’t afford the girls a nice schoolie setting for their play. Instead, as well as acting their crisp white socks off, they must pretend to be tables and chairs and lamps and trains and hallstands and pictures on the wall. Which all makes this Daisy fresh and vital again rather than a wilting, well-worn satchel.

It’s absolutely smashing when the girls and their teachers sweep among the audience at the start, chatting away without scripts. Best part of the whole evening, actually. Topping idea, Uncle David!

The play then belts along like a midnight pillow fight in the dorm. Its cartoon quality gets a little wearing but high spirits and sheer inventiveness abound and we quickly come to love Zoë Faithfull’s noble head girl and Helen Ashbourne’s splendidly erratic headmistress. Daisy, of course, is a hugely demanding role and while Rachel Cooper’s energetic performance is admirable, it tends to be all guts and no inner frailties.

But then, this is true British Empire girlhood, isn’t it? And even if there are hints of a little hob-nobbing with the boys from St Hugo’s, the gels soon buck up and rally to the righteous cause.

Spiffing stuff!

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Peter McGarry is an experienced, independent professional theatre critic who has agreed to review Loft Theatre Company productions.

The agreement with the Loft is that Peter is free to express his opinions for good or ill. The Loft Theatre Company has no control whatsoever over the content of these reviews and will never comment publicly on what he writes.