We’re in working-class Sheffield, and the eponymous Gwenda’s Garage offers a safe haven for a group of lesbian pals fighting back against the homophobia of Thatcher’s Britain. Based on a heartwarming true story, Southwark Playhouse’s enjoyable musical from director Jelena Budmir has laughs, love and plenty of hope.
Writer Nicky Hallett takes us back to the North of the 1980s, where female mechanics are like hen’s teeth and the newly qualified Carol, Terry and Bev can’t get themselves hired. Instead, they set up their own operation and take on the fresh-faced apprentice Dipstick. The final addition to the crew is new Sheffield arrival Feona, who’s married to a man but finds herself drawn to the camaraderie the women share.
Gwenda’s Garage is easy to like, with Hallett creating a band of characters who are warm, funny and instantly endearing. Even the prickliest of them, the fearsomely political Terry, has undeniable charisma. The cast have great chemistry as well as being strong solo performers, with particular accolades going to Eva Scott as mother hen Carol and Lucy Mackay as the adorably airheaded Dipstick.
There are enough laughs to keep everything moving along nicely. Sarah Booth’s simple but effective set gives us a sense of the home the women have built together, and there’s plenty of colour in Hallett’s script to ground the story in a particular time and place.
It’s all very pleasant to watch, but there are elements that lack a certain sharpness. For example, it’s never very clear exactly what the main plot is supposed to be – Bev’s uphill battle to become a mother? Her relationship with Terry? Feona’s self-exploration? These are all compelling storylines in their own right, but the show lacks a central driving narrative to cohere everything together.
There’s a little clunkiness too in the way events are sometimes sandwiched into the story. Take the scene between Terry and Dipstick in which the former laments the struggle of being working class, Black, lesbian and a feminist. It’s a nice character moment and the dialogue sounds natural, but it’s sparked by an uncharacteristic comment from Dipstick and on the whole feels plonked into place. There are a few scenes like this, where it feels as though we are dropped into a moment unexpectedly (particularly when scenes are separated by months or even years).
The songs (from Val Regan in collaboration with Hallett) are enjoyable overall, with the best being those that show off the cast’s wonderful harmonies (like ‘None of This Happened Here’ or ‘Meet Me on the Bridge’). But there are also a few that are forgettable (if pleasant), and they’re not helped by choreography that fails to wow, perhaps on account of the small performance space.
Despite these flaws, Gwenda’s Garage is a thoroughly likeable show thanks to its big-hearted characters and the underlying message that you should fight to be who you are. It could use a little fine-tuning, but overall it’s an easy ride.
Listings and ticket information can be found here
