Girls Night – The Reunion is a fantastically well written play about five friends who connect at a school reunion after 40 years. The play covers some hard-hitting topics and yet its warmth of their friendships shines through. Written by Louise Roche, this follow up to her original show, Girls Night, Girls Night – The Reunion is a fabulous feel-good show of fun, friendship and fantastic music.
We are first introduced to Sharon. Sharon is an angel. It’s the white outfit and wings that give it away. She breaks the fourth wall and speaks to us, the audience, about how she has been watching over her friends and how she misses them greatly. She is eternally 17 and says her friends are now ‘proper old’ now they are in their fifties. That’s another reason why I loved this show. It’s funny and about my peer group. Even though I do not consider myself to be proper old! Gen X are breaking all the rules about growing old gracefully and this is true of Sharon’s friends. Sharon is played by Nancy Randle and Nancy is fantastic in the role. She holds the audience in the palm of her hands and sings so beautifully she had me in tears.
Carol is confident, well dressed and likes a drink. She was Sharon’s best friend and she has been married, divorce, married, divorced and married. Turns out she found the answer to marriage but didn’t realise it. Well, we all kiss a lot of frogs before we find a prince. Carol is played by Amanda Booth and Amanda plays Carol confidently to be a character we may all have met on our journey of life. Everyone knows a Carol.
Liza married rich and has a beautiful house, a beautiful daughter named Dior and a beautiful life, or so we are lead to believe. But scratch beneath the surface and not is all rosy in the garden. Liza is played by Jessica Hodge. Jessica has a fantastic voice, huge stage presence and rocks the green dress. Liza is loud and isn’t frightened to ask the questions you really shouldn’t ask which could make people question their friendship, but Jessica delivers the role so brilliantly that instead of disliking Liza, she was one of my favourite characters and I warmed to her greatly.
Anita has had mental health issues all her life. The friends know about this but there is never any deep discussion between them as to why this is. Such close friends but with hidden secrets. Will we find out at the reunion what Anita’s secret is? Anita is played by Alexandra Kent and Alexandra is outstanding in the role. Her journey feels the most like a rollercoaster and gives Alexandra a chance to show her range of fantastic acting skills.
Kate is Carol’s little sister. She is very prim and proper and is a school teacher. Anita and Kate are quite close but despite issues with Carol, the sisters are also close. Kate is played by Debbie Leonard. Kate is difficult to play as she is quiet and doesn’t always fit into the group, being there by default of a sister, but Debbie has given Kate a steadfast ability to stick with the friends and Debbie cleverly shines through as the determined and kind one.
The show is peppered with a brilliant soundtrack of songs including, Man, I feel like a woman, True Colours, Dancing Queen, Feeling Good and, Its raining men. I absolutely loved this show. I cried, I laughed, I sang along. And if you buy a programme you get a pink glowstick so I felt part of the show.
Girls Night – The Reunion tells us that life is messy, but its much easier to navigate with good friends. Girls Night – The Reunion is showing at Stantonbury Theatre until 22 March 2025. Don’t miss it!
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