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The Gut Girls, 3rd Year BA (Hons) Acting Students, The Arts University College at Bournemouth Studio Theatre

SARAH Daniels’ 1994 play is set in the gutting sheds of a Victorian cattle market in Deptford, where the girls are the lowest of the low and work in dreadful conditions – but they are all feisty and independent, with clear ideas of what they want from life. A do-gooder, Lady Helena, sets up a club to try to help the girls improve themselves but her efforts do not entirely have the results she envisaged.

This production was played in the round so no audience member was far from the action, and we were soon drawn into that world, so much so that at the end of the play I found myself seething at the injustice and lies that were portrayed. Every single performer created a highly believable character, in some cases several, and when the ‘magic lantern’ failed to work, potentially ruining a scene, quick thinking on the part of the actors involved averted disaster.

The involvement of other departments in making the outstanding costumes and realistic-looking meat products, plus carefully sourced additional props all added to the overall effect, and I was particularly impressed that the actors remained in character even when off-stage, although visible to the audience.

Linda Kirkman

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