THEATRE REVIEW: Bad Dad - Walkden Gardens, Sale. Manchester.

Heartbreak Productions specialise in touring outdoor shows, and this afternoon I was in Walkden Gardens in Sale, (Manchester), to watch their latest production, an adaptation of the David Walliams children's novel, Bad Dad.

It wasn't the sunniest of afternoons and we were almost rained off twice this afternoon with steady and heavy downpours, but the audience came prepared with waterproofs, umbrellas, and in some cases, even wellingtons! We already had to bring our own seating - a usual prerequisite for shows of this nature - and many had also brought a packed picnic tea too!

The stage, looking like a large skateboard was thrust into the semi-circular seating plan, and we found the four actors milling around chatting to the audience in and out of character before the show started.
Bad Dad is about a young boy whose father is an ex-racing driver.... a very good and award-winning racing driver... but since his wife left him, and the accident in which he lost a leg, he has become increasingly introvert and laissez-faire, and without job and money, somehow still manages to feed them both... even if that does mean resorting to driving for a local mobster boss! Don't worry though, it all works out in the end.

Directed by Emma Hodgkinson, this family show was clearly aimed at the younger audience members today, of which there were a goodly number. Sadly though, perhaps due to the inclement weather, the company did not manage to enliven them or have them rolling in the aisles as I have seen other outdoor shows/companies do. The music was jingly but uninspiring, and despite the cast's best efforts to play BIG and over-the-top caricatures, a few titters and the odd laugh was the most they could muster from this afternoon's crowd. Except of course where lavatorial and scatological humour was concerned, and these references of course, made them laugh.

Perhaps, had the weather been kinder, the audience would have been more receptive, and this would have in turn lifted the performances and our enjoyment of the production.

Reviewer - Mathew Dougall
on - 18.6.23