Everybody Loves a Winner is a day in the life of a dilapidated Manchester bingo hall. It's written and directed by Neil Bartlett, lasts two and a half hours plus interval, and is staged in the round.

Miriam Buether's design impressively and extensively evokes the atmosphere of a bingo hall. There are fruit machines outside, and flashing neon signs. Sound designer Steve Brown's layered effects of clattering change and beeping machines play through the foyer. On the main stage, there are ten formica tables with eight seats each, plus a small raised platform for the caller to announce the numbers over a microphone mounted on a large lectern. Walls round the auditorium are plastered with peeling posters: 'Credit Crunch Bingo', 'Countdown'. Monitors show the winning numbers. Even the heavily-patterned carpet looks borrowed from a local Mecca.

There's a host of believable characters from a cast of 20. Five work at Rex Bingo. Sally Lindsay plays fastidious manager Linda Chappell, with great control and reliable comic timing. Ian Puleston-Davies is manic and despondent as jaded number-caller Frank'eh. There are three young minimum-wage employees: snake-hipped lad-about-town Joe, enthusiastically played by Warren Sollars; Emily Alexander huffs and pouts her way through the show as nonchalant Debbie; Amanda Henderson steals a scene or two with her comical manner as ironically-named Joy. Together, these three regularly combine to create an X-Factor winning, all-singing, all-dancing Redcoat trio, singing choreographed sections of pop songs between games. There are 15 different customers, each spending the whole day there, from an incontinent 70-year-old to a young married couple. Sally Bankes as aggressive, foul-mouthed Maureen is particularly memorable for the very funny force of her fights with the other characters.

But often the action on stage seems too successful in bringing the daily routine of Rex Bingo to life. A typical day in a bingo hall might perhaps not be strung together with riveting narrative - the same is true of the play. There are a lot of dramatically dull moments. Characters mill around or play bingo, speak repetitive dialogue or shout statements to no apparent purpose. There's often theatrical inertia; characters are all much the same by the end as at the start. Some tightly-directed, peculiar set-pieces punctuate the naturalism. They reflect on the attraction of devoting so much time to a game which offers small and few rewards. On a number of occasions customers form a kind of Greek Chorus, repeating a rhythmical parody of the Lord’s Prayer - Amen becomes Eyes Down - reinforcing the idea of quasi-religious daily attendance. Number-caller Frank'eh has a couple of rambling monologues - he's picked out in the dark by a spotlight as the rest of the cast freeze. He often dwells on the nature of unfairness, pacifying the disgruntled congregation with a gloomy reminder that losing all the time 'is just like life'. These sorts of observations and abstract passages - whilst being interesting - struggle to keep the piece moving in the place of a strong story.

Everybody Loves a Winner - before the interval in a practice session and after it in the real game - takes a final leap into the real by becoming an actual cash-paying bingo-game. Bingo cards are on sale (50p) in the interval to be used in the second half for cash prizes of £5, £20 and £200. Unfortunately this does takes up a lot of the stage time, and playing bingo in the middle of the play does detract from the story on stage. As hard as the cast employees of Rex Bingo encourage the real audience to play, some do and some don't. People who don't are left to twiddle their thumbs while a long series of (presumably to them) meaningless numbers are read out. Overall, although Everybody Loves a Winner is experimental, strongly supported by a tenacious cast, and has several interesting moments, it is left floundering without the firm narrative it deserves.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Emily Alexander - Debbie. Sally Bankes - Maureen. Judith Barker - Kathy. Anita Booth - Shirley-Ann Porter. Paul-Ryan Carberry - Ryan. Patti Clare - Janice. Nicky Goldie - Hayley. Emma Hartley-Miller - Gemma. Amanda Henderson - Joy. Liz Hume-Dawson - Brigid. Joan Kempson - Elsie. Sally Lindsay - Linda Chappell (Manageress). Sue McCormick - Mandy. Sherry Ormerod - Denise. Ian Puleston-Davies - Frank'eh (The Caller). Eamonn Riley - Keith Porter. Warren Sollars - Joe. Susan Twist - Lesley. Sue Wallace - Peggy Johnson. Flo Wilson - Pauline.

Company Credits: Writer - Neil Bartlett. Director - Neil Bartlett. Music Director - Simon Deacon. Movement Director - Struan Leslie. Designer - Miriam Buether. Lighting Designer - Chris Davey. Sound Designer - Steve Brown. Technical Operator - uncredited. Dialect Coach - Charmian Hoare. Stage Manager - Olly Seviour. Deputy Stage Manager - (uncredited). Assistant Director - Rania Jumaily. Assistant Stage Manager - Louise Martin. Props & Settings - Andy Bubble. Costume Supervisor - Nikki Meredith. Researcher - Jonny Evers. Company Manager - Lee Drinkwater. Producer - uncredited. Company - Royal Exchange Theatre and Manchester International Festival Co-Production. Royal Exchange Theatre: Press Officer - John Goodfellow. Press & Marketing Officer - Vicky Bloor. Artistic Directors (alpha order): Sarah Frankcom, Greg Hersov, Braham Murray. Website - www.royalexchangetheatre.org.uk

END

(c) Jonny Lodge 2009

reviewed Tuesday 3 July 2009 / Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com