“In the silence of night I have often wished for just a few words of love from one man, rather than the applause of thousands of people”. It’s fitting that Judy Garland’s own words fit the protagonist of Jim Cartwright’s award-winning play about a shy young woman dealing with the death of her father through the medium that connected them.

For anyone who hasn’t seen the film, withdrawn Little ‘LV’ Voice (Denise Hoey), escapes the sting of her alcoholic, frenetic mother Mari (Wendy Seager) shut off in her room, daydreaming with her father’s prized record collection. Her uncanny talent for impersonating iconic female singers is picked up by her mother’s latest lover, Ray Say (Stewart Potter), a small fry manager who sees her as his ticket to big money and thrusts her into the spotlight.

Award winning Visible Fictions and the Scottish Touring Theatres Consortium present this modern northern comedy, with director Douglas Irvine playing up to the many laughs in the script but also beautifully bringing through the moments of bitterness and tenderness. Cartwright’s text cleverly manages to steer away from nostalgia and idealism presenting quirky but real characters, mixing language between gritty Northern dialect and poetic rhythms. Implicitly theatrical, we’re guided through the story by a typical sleazy showbiz compere (Barrie Hunter). But what begins as breezy enjoyment slowly becomes undercut by the real emotions traumatising this dysfunctional family and the exploitative nature of show business. The set (Becky Minto) cleverly flattens a two-up-two-down house and alleyway onto one level highlighting the exposure and manipulation of LV who just wants to cower away and be left alone. But when LV flourishes in the second half, during her musical medley and beyond, through Denise Hoey’s notable portrayal we see a girl who has an astonishing gift for mimicry because she has never lived, unable to move beyond grief within the shadow of her foreboding mother; a metaphor for our troubled journey into adulthood. Although the role was written specifically for the talented Jane Horrock’s, Hoey makes it her own and does a stellar job at impersonation, her Judy Garland a specific, tingling highlight while Seager’s Mari is as brash and daring as she is broken. Irvine has worked the pacing and delivery well, interspersing scenes of raucousness against gentle lulling moments. With an enjoyable cast and great musical delivery this production shines with an effortless story that reminds us that the most important thing is to be yourself.

Touring