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Laughter in a pink pinny The Dinner Lady Man The Old Joint Stock **** SO WHAT happens when the new dinner lady - or
educational establishment sustenance facilitator as they are probably
known these days - turns out to be man. That is the quandary posed by Dan Hagley in his new
play The Dinner Lady Man. Bob, nicely underplayed by Black Country actor
Greg Hobbs, has seen his building business go down the tubes and his
wife go down the local garage for a younger man. You probably heard she
was the one Vic at the car dealership was knocking off - everyone else
has. So with the bailiffs at his building yard and his wife
out for divorce Bob, the builder, needs a job and the Job Centre send
him off to the local school as . . . a dinner lady. It all adds to
the problems of Enid, splendidly played by Rina Mahoney, head dinner
lady in charge of the squad of ladies or, to be more accurate, just
Gaynor as it turns out. The rest go on strike as soon as they hear Bob is a
man which leave lechy Mr Lusty, the had, played by Hagley himself,
trying to sort it out. Gaynor, played beautifully by Linzi Matthews, finds
the smell of disinfectant and mince make her feel sick and retch - ideal
qualities for a school dinner lady - and displays a remarkable skill in
managing to avoid anything with could remotely be described as work.
Add in the school loony hoodie Dean, Hagley again, who
stabs Bob among the turkey twizzlers and Enid and Bob find a bit more in
common that pink pinnies. Hagley in his last play Patrick and Bernadine showed
he could mix comedy with a hint of pathos and does the same here. There are some very funny lines and Hagley has that
ability to write about people you know, real people with real
conversations and here has found himself a trio of actors who bring his
characters to vibrant life under the direction of Jenny Stephens. The play ends at The Old Joint Stock with a 2.30
matinee on Sunday Oct 3 then heads off on a tour which includes
Bromsgrove, Solihull, Wolverhampton and the Lowry in Manchester. Try and
catch it somewhere on its journey. For details
http://www.somethingandnothing.org/ Roger Clarke
Seconds . . . WITH its emphasis on equal opportunities and
the problems that can arise, this new comedy by Birmingham writer Dan
Hagley is almost too funny for words! Or should that be seriously funny, because virtually
every week we read about jobsworths causing a bit of mayhem with their
pursuit of new laws on discrimination. In this 75-minute play Bob (a builder) is desperate
for work after his business collapses in the recession and his wife
seeks a bit of comfort from Vic the garageman. But the job he accepts at a local school turns out to
be in the kitchen - a dinner lady-man - and news of the new man on the
hob leads to a walkout by the majority of the all-female cooking staff. Black Country-born Greg Hobbs gives a lovely
performance as baffled Bob who puts on his pink pinny and white hat and
gets on with the job while the dispute escalates. Although at first reluctant to accept a man in the
school kitchen, Enid, and to a rather less extent, the busty Gaynor,
agree to work with him to keep the pupils fed (mainly on chilli), and,
surprise, surprise, love blossoms along the way. Rina Mahoney excels as the kitchen boss, Enid, who has
marital difficulties of her own, and Linzi Matthews is a hoot as the
Scouse dinnerlady, Gaynor, who has a knack of escaping work. In addition to writing the comedy, Dan Hagley takes a
part - well three, actually - and is terrific as school chief Mr Lusty,
Bob's former employee Gavin, and even a hoody thug pupil, Dean, who
pulls a knife on the new dinner lady-man. Directed by Jenny Stephens, this sparkling comedy
closed at the Old Joint Stock on Sunday (Oct 3), and goes on tour until
17.11.10 Paul Marston
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