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Set - Act 1		Ladies - Act 1
Ladies - Song		Confrontation - Act 2

From The Birmingham Evening Mail

Five Blue Haired Ladies
Sitting on a Green Park Bench

The Grange Players
Grange Playhouse, Walsall

Every day five old dears meet for a chat on benches in Washington Park Square, New York and their tales from the past provide heaps of humour in this John Penzotti comedy.
The play has had two successful UK tours, and now the Grange Players are giving it a whirl with skill and enthusiasm, the numerous short scenes earning regular bursts of applause from sell-out audiences.
Celia Graveley (Gladys), Lynne Matthews (La La), Mary Whitehouse (Rose), Margaret Wills (Eva) and Chris Whistance (Anna) give lovely performances as the five, often frustrated, friends who, having lost their partners, need each other’s company.
The first act moves at a fairly sedate pace until wham!  Former jazz singer La La grabs a mike and sings Miss Otis Regrets, and is joined by her four pals dressed in sexy white gowns and feather boas.  Terrific.
Then the pace hots up even more after the interval when the green benches become gleaming white and the ladies find themselves in heaven.  And just to spice up the action even more, their old partners turn up for a reunion of mixed emotions.
Full marks to Elizabeth Smith who not only directs the comedy at short notice, but also plays Rose’s lesbian lover, Shirley.  The play runs to September 18.

PAUL MARSTON