★★★★
What would you do if you won £4 million out of nowhere? Famously, Viv Nicholson proclaimed that she would “spend, spend, spend” when she won the Football Pools in 1961, and so the musical retelling of her life illustrates how she did exactly that. As a sort of cartwheeling take on Cinderella, Spend Spend Spend recounts the rags to riches to rags story of Mrs Nicholson through endearing Yorkshire charm and a magnum or two of Moet. Performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, and directed by Josh Seymour, it is vibrant, joyous, and serves as a cautionary but ultimately hopeful tale.
Viv’s story is narrated by herself in the present (Rachel Leskovac), with her younger self (Rose Galbraith) walking the audience through her life. Both actors are mesmerising in their vocals and capture Viv’s energy with flair and charisma. After a slow start, the audience meet teenaged Viv, her alcoholic and abusive father, and her mother, in Castleford and start on the tale of husband number one. Upbeat songs wind around the narrative, with the fluidity and creativity of the staging bolstering some of the less-catchy numbers. Nevertheless, the performance gathers pace as the audience watch a married Viv with her second husband (Alex James-Hatton) living on the breadline win the Football Pools.
The euphoria is unstoppable, as are all her new friends. As well as telling Viv’s story, Yorkshire is brought to life in the pubs, housing estates, and glamour of Garforth. It’s a time of miners and housewives, of stark poverty in the north and of locals in a small town who know everything about everyone. Viv and her equally enigmatic husband are out of their depth; they spend, they run away, and they get lost in what their life has transformed into overnight. Galbraith and James-Hatton capture the naivety and loneliness of a situation most people can only dream of and the nightmare that the reality can be.
The plot takes a turn as Viv starts to flounder and characters like the taxman, bailiffs and bankers grace the stage with their suits and polished courtesies. As Viv’s life starts to spiral out of control the pace of the performance heightens, and the ensemble maintain an electrifying atmosphere as one woman’s life unfurls before the audience’s eyes.
The performance gains momentum throughout, with whole ensemble choreography enchanting in the round. It accelerates in the second act amongst the alluring sparkle of the metallic gold and silver set designed by Grace Smart. The two Vivs remain compelling and whilst occasional songs amble along, several are show-stopping in their portrayal of exhilaration and community.
Overall, it is a musical with heart that has more than a few moments of glory. It is a fun-filled, turbulent show that will have you questioning just how many lottery tickets you should really take a chance on…
Spend Spend Spend will be performed at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre until 11 January.
Words by Hannah Goldswain.
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