Spend Spend Spend: The Watermill Theatre (From The Oxford Times)

Spend Spend Spend: The Watermill Theatre

11:11am Thursday 16th July 2009 in Search By Giles Woodforde

The dispassionate radio announcer reads out the football results in measured tones. Finally – after a hair-raising pause caused by a late kick-off – there are eight draws. But did Keith actually post his pools coupon? He did, and Keith and Viv are £152,319 richer – about £5m today.

Spend Spend Spend! is the real life story of Keith and Viv Nicholson, who won the pools in 1961. The story became a book, then a play. Finally, Steve Brown and Justin Greene turned it into a musical, which ran for ten months in the West End. The choreographer was Craig Revel Horwood, who now joins forces with musical arranger Sarah Travis to choreograph and direct this new Watermill production.

We first meet Viv (Kirsty Hoiles) as the ice cream girl at her local cinema. She lives with her dad (Graham Kent). “I know me dad loves me, ’e knocks me about,” Viv sings wistfully, in one of the musical’s full complement of well-crafted songs. She’s early into sex (there are some hilariously choreographed bed scenes), and soon rushed to the altar, very pregnant.

Husband no 1 is then dumped in favour of next door neighbour Keith (Greg Barnett, pictured with her).

After the big win, the snappers rush round – never has there been such a photo op in the mining town of Castleford, Yorkshire. In a truly side-splitting, and unforgettable scene, a squad of bunny girls arrive, not all of whom bulge in quite the same places as each other. They accompany Bruce Forsyth (Neil Ditt, with hairpiece splendidly askew), who is to present The Big Cheque.

From there, it’s inevitably downhill to the bogus begging letters, and rows over who spends what. But Revel Horwood keeps the pace up, and never lets mawkishness creep in as things get tough. Always involving, and frequently very funny, the show is moving as well. For this production has done something very rare: it has turned a not enormously memorable musical into something special, without losing any of the show’s grit and bawdiness.

The 12-strong ensemble cast is uniformly excellent, but Kirsty Hoiles is exceptional as Young Viv (in another expert production touch, Karen Mann narrates as a much older and wiser Viv, with the two Vivs gradually morphing into one personality). With every twitch of her face seeming completely natural, Hoiles takes you right into Viv’s character. It’s a performance that should make her career.

Until August 29. Tickets: 01635 46044 or online at www.watermill.org.uk