Nanny
Staged at Bristol Old Vic a couple of years ago, this comedy musical about a pair of actor-nannies – played by writers Alana Ramsey and Lizzie Stables – is now directed by Sara Pascoe for BBC Radio 4. Matthew Floyd Jones (Frisky & Mannish) supplies the songs as the duo juggle the demands of both jobs. On BBC Sounds from 21 May.

To paraphrase Amy in the two hander Nanny after singing Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross, ‘they nailed the bollocks out of that one.’ Folio Theatre’s play about two actors working a side gig as child carers has it all: pathos, comedy, arguments, song and dance and above all the trials and tribulations of a friendship tested to the limits in the sticky-fingered nappy-changing world of nannies to the rich.

The drama billed as a comedy play with songs, centres on Amy (Alana Ramsay) and Leanne (Lizzie Stables) who really want to tread the boards in Edinburgh rather then take their darling charges to Stay and Play. Set in a thrust stage in Bristol Old Vic’s Weston Studio complete with child seat, sofa and coffee table, the duo quickly establish their characters: bride-to-be Amy is wealthy, confident and ambitious, while Leanne is poor, forgetful and ‘has issues with pleasing people.’

In one of the songs, they sing of Mel and Sue, French and Saunders and the Chuckle Brothers as double acts they’d like to emulate – well they should have included themselves, as Alana and Lizzie have chemistry and charisma by the pram-full. Brilliant lyrics to Matthew Floyd Jone’s music (played live on set by the composer) a crackling comic meeting of minds and a spirit in a double act that has it all – and set to music as well.

Songs with witty choreography (Jessica Ramsey), facial expressions that make you want to laugh as they accentuate the words and emotions – and slapstick without the custard pies. Songs included, ‘There’s Music Wherever You Go,’ the audience inducing laughter of ‘The Perfect Mum I Get Things Done,’ and ‘Everything You Do Fails,’ inspired by a the less that gracious toddler in Amy’s care deemed a narcissistic sociopath after she failed to work out how to fit a Maxi Cosi 10 car seat.

Two strangers meet at a remote spot on the edge of a riverbank. Jo is a children’s writer trying to teach herself to fish and Mark is a recluse, slightly eccentric, who has come to practise his Tai Chi.

In a different time and space, a lone stranger (Huw) is addressing a partner from what was once a happy relationship.

Directed by Adam Lenson, it’s a three hander with Lizzie Stables as Jo, Michael Palmer as Mark and Matt Tait as Huw. Their performances are natural and interweave smoothly.

It’s well written and has dialogue that makes you think deeply without realising it, as we are drawn in to the story and how it might end. It has a natural sound to it and the words create a bonding relationship between each character.

The individual scenes are very separate in styles, but slowly unravel to combine and link together which is an interesting and intriguing idea.

The puns are not only included in the title, they continue throughout providing just the right amount of light to the dark.

Dealing with themes of recovery, love and loss it may be triggering for some viewers.

The ultimate question though is, what really lies beneath the surface?

Moving, profound and deeply touching.

It’s an apt description of friends Amy and Leanne who sing, dance, gossip, scheme, fall out and make up in this wonderfully warm-hearted new production.
I found myself rooting for them to break free of the drudgery of professional childcare, sharing in their successes and commiserating in their failures.

Alana Ramsey (Amy), Lizzie Stables (Leanne) in Nanny – photo: Folio
We meet the two friends, played by co-writers Alana Ramsey and Lizzie Stables, at a stay and play session in a church while they are looking after two children but spend more time planning their careers in showbiz.

The other co-writer is Jenny Rainsford, also the director of Nanny, who skilfully brings the audience into Amy and Leanne’s world as naughty co-conspirators; parents in the audience laughing at all-too recognisable situations.
Off stage are the children in their care and also Kim, who runs the session and whose foibles we get to know without once seeing or hearing her.

Just off-stage too is pianist Matthew Floyd Jones, whose musical accompaniment provides some uplifting and gloriously funny moments for the duetting funny girls (I’ve stolen that line from the review within the play as well).

Unearthed
New Wimbledon Studio, London

Unearthed, developed in association with Carers Trust, tells the story of two young adults struggling with the implications of caring for their father. This issue is close to my heart. I felt the play represented young adult carers’ stories in a really honest way, while bringing lightness and humour to a serious subject matter. Emily Davies.

Close to the beginning of Reel Life an actor exclaims that we all probably “hate this set”, yet a tiny raised platform in a corner of the St James Studio proves to be the perfect spot for introducing the snippets of lives and nature depicted in this play.

This is the second full length play written by Alys Metcalf after receiving critical acclaim for Unearthed, and I wholly expect Reel Life to reach similar heights. The play is set on the edge of a remote riverbank where two unlikely strangers meet. Jo (Lizzie Stables) is a children’s writer wrestling with a fishing rod and Mark (Michael Palmer) is a dryly eccentric individual wishing to continue his Tai Chi practice in peace. Gradually their emotional defences weaken and they learn firstly to tolerate one another’s presence, then to enjoy it. They bond over tackle and fly with a sense of humour, Mark in particular with his tasteless jokes and teasing. They keep themselves guarded from verbally verging into the profound, but the poignancy of their private moments together invokes a lingering background sadness to Jo’s failed attempts to catch a fish. There is also the presence of Huw (Matt Tait), whose emotional speeches, delivered directly to the audience, slowly begin to reveal a darker side to these recreations.

In direct contrast, we are introduced to two further characters, performed by Palmer and Tait again (only with their hoods up). It takes at least two exchanges for me to realise these characters are fish! At first you believe these characters are a lost man and an angry local reluctant to provide directions. Their mentions of “old trout” and the poor memory of the one in gold (see what they did there?) seem coincidental. The audience actually laugh out loud when it is revealed in its certainty that these are the very fish under the feet of Jo and Mark. I find these exchanges particularly clever and enjoyable to watch. I love the novelty value of having goldfish and trouts as characters. Over time the tragedy behind these repeated meetings is made apparent.

At roughly seventy minutes long, and despite the seemingly tranquil backdrop, Reel Life incorporates subjects of love, loss and loneliness, compartmentalizing them into tiny moments in a tiny place, packing an emotional punch. The beauty of this piece is that we’re not supposed to know too much about Jo and Mark’s lives outside of the setting (Huw’s monologues only drip-feed background information), just as we know very little about the fish. Indeed, we only know that the goldfish came from Bowl. The play shows us the importance of being, here in the present moment, and it is these moments which define ourselves as living entities, no matter if we live above or below the surface.