BWW Reviews: GIRLFRIENDS, Union Theatre, October 31 2014

Somewhere, down the back of musical theatre's metaphorical sofa, the Union Theatre has found another work long lost from the British stage and revived it for 21st century audiences. Girlfriends (continuing until 22 November) concludes this venue's three-part Howard Goodall season with his mid-80s (almost) sung-through examination of the life of women serving on an RAF base during the Battle of Britain and later. Does it work today? Well, yes and no.

The music is splendid. Freddie Tapner's five-piece band captures the complexities of Goodall's score beautifully, the melodies merging and separating, repeating, twisting and turning, more an opera than a musical. Those treats for the ear are matched by some of the most ambitious singing I have heard at The Union - and that is praise indeed. The ten women and two men sing well individually, but really thrill when voices combine, close up, into an almost choral soundscape. There's also plenty of room for showstopping setpieces, in which Perry Lambert, Catherine Mort and Catriana Sandison excel, pouring emotion into their big numbers, eyes glistening with nascent tears.

So what's not to like? Well, it's slow, really slow. The love triangle between the two WAAFs and the dashing RAF officer Guy (as loaded a name as one could imagine) plays out predictably and the introduction of a debate about the morality of Arthur Harris's area bombing strategy felt tacked on and perfunctory. Despite Richard Curtis being involved in the genesis of the book, it's much the weakest element of the show.

That said, musical theatre is, above all else, about music and singing, and the young cast and instrumentalists deliver that brief with some brio. Their performances will stay with you long after the pedestrian plot has drifted from memory.

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