Progress Theatre's Production of Bold Girls by Rona Munro, Monday 17th February 2014

Bold Girls is the story of one day in the life of four women living in Belfast during the troubles. One day, which should change everything but doesn’t. The four women are: Marie (Emma Sterry), a young widower with two children whose husband was killed by the Brits; Cassie (Lauren Gilbert), Marie’s best friend who also has two children with a husband she despises in jail; Nora (Alison Hill), Cassie’s mother and also a widow; and Deirdre (Libby Boyd), a lost and desperate 16 year old girl. The three older women are neighbours and share a seemingly unbreakable bond born from the tragedy of losing their men, husbands, sons and brothers to the fighting which is still tearing Belfast apart, a bond which is tested by the revelations of this day.

The play is written as a naturalistic piece and the staging in this production reflected that. Every detail of the excellent set design (right down to the obligatory “Sacred heart of Jesus” painting on the hallway wall) enhanced the audience’s fly-on-the-wall feeling. The realistic action is occasionally broken by character monologues which are staged in this production as moments of reverie. The lights were dimmed on the background tableaux while the character speaking to the audience directly was picked out with a spotlight so the transitions between the natural dialogue and the more abstract monologues were smooth and distinct.

All of the performances were strong and believable with the monologues and the interactions between Cassie and Marie standing out for me. While sometimes the pace dropped a little in the first act, I felt they all had moments of brilliance in the second act. The shifting dynamic between Cassie and Nora, from the typical Mother/Daughter relationship characterised by impatience to two women both desperate in their own ways for a man in their life that they can love and respect, was also well played out.

Bold Girls is not your typical feel-good play, rather it illustrates how people can put up with an awful lot of crap raining down on them and still carry on, being the same person they’ve always been, unbeaten and yet beaten down all at the same time. Having said that, I really enjoyed this show for the excellent performances and I had warmed to all the characters by the end. I would happily watch these Bold Girls again (& I don’t say that often!) and I’m a little jealous of the audiences for the rest of the run because I believe this show is going to get stronger and more polished every night.