Ladies' Day bringing characters with real heart to Octagon

Set in 2005, when for one year only Royal Ascot relocated to York, Ladies’ Day is the story of four women who work at a Hull fish factory and get all glammed up for a day at the races.

The production comes to Bolton after premiering at the New Vic in Staffordshire,

Annie Kirkman plays Shelley, one of the four women determined to make the most of their big day out.

“Shelley is the party animal,” said Annie. “Quite a few people have said ‘we know someone like Shelley’. She’s one of those people who is quite loud, opinionated and not afraid of saying what she thinks.

“She’s also desperate to be famous and meet a millionaire; that’s her number one aim but it’s not quite as simple as she thinks it’s going to be.”

When she leaves the hairnet and white overalls of the fish factory behind, Shelley is a vision in pink, complete with obligatory fascinator.

“Oh, that outfit, it’s like Barbie,” laughed Annie. “Actually the teenage me would have been really chuffed with that look.”

The exploits of the four very different women from the factory on their day out has been charming audiences.

“We’ve had some really nice comments from people saying that it was just what they needed,” said Annie. “It’s got lots of heart at the centre of it and it’s also very funny and we love doing it which I think audiences can tell.

“All the characters are ordinary people who are really relatable; they are working class women doing something a bit out of their comfort zone.”

Annie admits that she’s nothing like the loud, brash Shelley.

“My dad came to watch the show and turned to my mum in the interval and said ‘I don’t like her, I just want to shout at her and say Annie stop it’ because it’s not the kind of behaviour he would expect from me. That was really funny, I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said.

“She’s very different from many characters I’ve played before and on paper could seem to be a bit two-dimensional but I’ve loved the challenge of playing her and making her human and more rounded.”

Annie didn’t have to look too far when it came to researching a girls’ day at the races.

“I live in Beverley so I have got the racecourse on my doorstep,” she said. “Going to ladies’ day is something I’ve done so many times. It really is something unique; everybody dresses up to the nines and spends hours getting ready and by the end we’ve all got our shoes off, wobbling down the hill home.”

The cast has been delighted to see many audience members making an effort and getting dressed up to see the production already.

“We’ve had a lot of audience members wearing fascinators and getting dressed up, it’s been really good,” she said.

But Annie is quick to point out that Ladies’ Day is not just a girls’ night out.

“We have had some groups come along and they have loved it,” she said, “but what has been interesting has been the variety in the audiences. We have had families, we have had couples and even a lot of younger people.

“It’s set in 2005 and there is some brilliant music from that time which features in the show and I think for anyone who grew up in that era it’s actually quite nostalgic.

“It’s certainly not just for women. Loads of men have come an enjoyed it. I think it’s because you are looking at the lives of these real characters. There is a nice age range between them and if they hadn’t become got to know each other through work it’s unlikely they would have been friends.”

So would Annie like to go to the races with the quartet in Ladies’ Day?

“Oh, I’d love to go with these girls,” she said. “I think it would be really fun although I do think if I met Shelley on a night out I’d be a bit scared of her.”

Ladies’ Day will be the first time that Annie will have performed at the Octagon although she does have family in the area. She is also a founding member of She Productions based in Hull and co-written and performed in nine original shows with the company.

One of them, MissCast, even led to her performing in Mexico City.

“We did a satirical cabaret show which had a Mexican actress in it, even though she lived in Beverley,” said Annie. “But she had run her own company in Mexico and mentioned a drama festival there and said we should take out show.

“Bear in mind I had done A-level Spanish and that was it, one or two of the others knew a bit of Spanish and the rest hadn’t a clue, so we said let’s see if they will accept us before we start to worry about it.

“But then they invited us over so we had to to decide what to do.

“The initial show had been about the trials and tribulations of being an actor in this industry so we sort of flipped the original story and made it about a Mexican actress being the new member of an English company. I spoke Spanish, one of the others spoke Spanish with a broad Hull accent and another could only say words in Spanish associated with food.

“It was weird and wonderful but somehow it worked.”

Now back on more familiar territory Annie will be bringing Shelley and her pals to the Octagon for Ladies’ Day.

“It’s a show which just has the right kind of recipe for what people are looking for right now,” she said. “It’s high energy and hugely entertaining and the characters are all ones you can relate to.”

Ladies’ Day, Octagon Bolton, Wednesday, March 8 to Saturday, April 1. Details from www.octagonbolton.co.uk