REVIEW: Salad Days - The Lowry Theatre, Salford.

For a show that was a phenomenal hit some 60 years ago, it felt such a shame that this evening the Lowry's Quays Theatre was only half full, and majority of the audience were of the generation which would have fond memories of its original success. Yes, that's a crying shame really, since there is a place in the modern theatre repertoire for these book-style Musicals which were the staple diet of musical fans for many years. A joyous score, a comedy storyline which is easy to follow and not too complicated, great choreography, and of course a happy ending!

Despite this current tour being its fourth revival since 1954, it still remains a mostly unheard of entity. I knew the Musical quite well as I saw a university student production of it some years ago and subsequently bought the London cast recording album; but most of my generation, even if they were Musical Theatre fans, would be hard-pressed to whistle one of the many memorable and delightful ditties that abound in this piece.

Written by Julian Slade with help from Dorothy Reynolds, the story tells of two good friends who, after graduating from university together suddenly realise that they will now be going their separate ways and probably never see each other again. Neither have any idea of what they want to do in life but neither like the prospect of parting. Enter a tramp with a piano! They are asked to look after this piano for him for a whole month (their purpose) and they will be paid (their income) and in accepting so to do they not only turn their own lives around but their respective families' lives too and make the whole community a much livelier an happier place! Oh how jolly! And if this description sounds a little twee, forgive me, it isn't particularly too saccharine, but it certainly doesn't have the depth or layers that modern musicals take as de riguer.

In this production the two graduates of Timothy and Jane are played by Mark Anderson and Jessica Croll respectively. They made a lovely duo complementing each other nicely. Their voices didn't particularly blend at times with Croll have the louder and more powerful voice, but their chemistry on stage was lovely. The tramp, who was also the Musical Director and pianist in the show too was a very likeable Dan Smith, and the whole, actually rather large cast / ensemble for such a touring production, were excellent. Love her or hate her, Wendi Peters did give a very blustery and characterful performance, owing much to both Prunella Scales and Patricia Routledge in her interpretation, and Valerie Cutko made an ideal choice as her opposite, since their physical appearances were so obviously different.

Maeve Byrne overplayed her hand completely with her solo song 'The Sand In My Eyes' as Asphynxia. What should have been an hilarious and clever piece was hampered by a restrictive costume and being allowed too much leeway with it. Whilst Callum Evans gave a stunning performance in mime as the mute Troppo, and the rest of the cast gave us mad uncles, dancing policemen, and even a female alien!

This is a touring production obviously on a tight budget, and so it was a one-set-fits-all show, using a bandstand centre stage upon which the pianist took residence. The band was actually a trio, and with the addition of bass and drums, the music sounded a lot fuller than it actually was. The bandstand doubled as a spaceship (this was the weakest design idea) but with an imaginative lighting design, this made up for the lack of set.

Director Bryan Hodgson missed several opportunities to heighten the comedy, but overall, this was a terrifically entertaining and joyous show which had me humming and bopping along to the lovely Slade melodies. A feel-good factor of 10 imbues this production throughout, and thankfully Hodgson kept the show very true to its original concept without finding a need to update or alter, and that in itself is hugely credit-worthy.

For anyone who enjoys traditional Musicals and needs a little escape - this is the perfect show for you! 

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 26/9/18