“Anita, have you got your yoghurts out!?”

The stage adaptation of Victoria Wood’s hit sitcom Dinner Ladies has come to Darlington! As part of an extensive six month tour of the UK, the play presented by The Comedy Theatre Company is visiting Darlington’s Civic Theatre between the 18th and 23rd of May… The play has taken its storyline from a variety of episodes of Wood’s cult comedy series, which was aired between 1998 and 2000. The main focus of the play is the burgeoning romance between the show’s starring character Bren and the catering manager Tony. Andrew Dunn, who played Tony in the original series, has reprised his role, along with Shobna Gulati (Sunita Alahan, Coronation Street) who plays ditzy Anita.

The storyline is spread out across 8 months in the lives of the factory canteen staff and is absolutely jam-packed with classic one-liners from the series, which will have you roaring in your seats. The cast had only two weeks of rehearsals before commencing the tour in March, and avidly watched and observed the complete two series on DVD, to immerse themselves in their roles. It was Ms Wood’s intention that the stage version should be as close to the original TV series as possible, because she believes that is what they would want to see and the cast have certainly done a good job.

Andrew Dunn said to us that it was a joy to be playing Tony again and that it was surreal but great to be working alongside a new cast. He also said that it was lovely to be working again with Shobna, with whom he often shares accommodation on tour and who is apparently a fantastic chef! (Watch out for her in the next series of Celebrity MasterChef).

Stella Ross, who plays brutally honest character Jean (with an uncanny likeness!), said that it was nice to be part of a production that was making people laugh so much, especially in this time of economical hardship. And make you laugh it certainly will, if you are new to the world of dinnerladies, you will find it hilarious and up-to-date thanks to Victoria Wood’s re-working and modernisation of some of the classic gags. If you are a fan of the original series, you will be in comedy heaven, having to stop yourself from saying the lines along with the cast.

It has to be said that the fantastic script is complemented magnificently by a fantastic ensemble cast, who have brought new life to the characters, keeping them close to the originals, whilst also putting a new twist on them. Cheers from the audience greet the entrances of Tony and Anita, but after this, the fact you are watching a mix of old and new actors isn’t even noticeable.

Some members of the cast commented on how, now that the play has reached the north east, Victoria Wood’s humour is appreciated even more, but luckily the cast’s comedy timing is perfected well enough to allow for the audience’s laughter! Laughter on the actor’s part is also taken into account; a famous scene regarding yoghurts, between the show’s veterans Andrew Dunn and Shobna Gulati did indeed include a smidgen of corpsing, which the audience absolutely delighted in.

I would strongly advise that you catch this play whilst you can, it will give you a couple of hours of complete entertainment, and probably give you the best laugh you’ve had in a while!

Liam Spencer and Emily Lister