‘Greatest Days’, The King’s Theatre Glasgow | Review By Rebecca Donati

Hilarious comedy, stories of friendship and womanhood – we’ll Take That! ‘Greatest Days’ features more than 15 record-breaking Take That songs, alongside a heart-warming and hilarious story of love and laughter from Tim Firth, the award-winning writer of Calendar Girls, that will make your heart Shine.The musical follows five boy band obsessed best friends in the 1990s, who reunite over 20 years later to see their heartthrobs one last time in what could be the Greatest Day of their lives.

Jennifer Ellison as Rachel had great emotional range, her character choices allowed us to feel the euphoria the character feels as her life comes full circle. Ellison used great body language, and picked genuinely unique and interesting habits to display the character’s innermost thoughts.

Holly Ashton was a joy to watch as Zoe. Her portrayal of the character resonated with the audience, there was a familiarity in the character which reminded you of someone you know. Her naturalistic approach brought some realism – allowing you to really buy into the heartwarming storyline.

Jamie-Rose Monk as Claire was hilarious, a real standout of the production. She played with the text, using her voice in interesting ways to really drive the humour of her character. Her projection was fantastic and her diction was great. The strength of her vocal ability allowed her to grab the attention of the audience and make them listen.

Rachel Marwood as Heather had a great emotional journey. Her character was extremely interesting and well developed. The audience were drawn to her as her reactions to the other girls were particularly strong.

Hannah Brown as young Zoe, used her physicality very nicely, hunching over to display her insecurities and her personal confinement which worked brilliantly for the character. Brown showed great vocal range by utilising her pitch to portray the characters age and social shyness.

Olivia Hallett as young Rachel had a fantastic voice, her singing was beautiful. Her intonation allowed for the humour of the character to be portrayed well, this choice meant the more hard hitting moments were authentic creating a great contrast.

Kitty Harris as young Heather was hilarious, her execution of the choreography was clean and sharp. Harris was energetic and at times fully lifted the cast if there were ever dips in the performance.

Mari McGinlay as young Claire had fantastic comedic timing, her character was fully developed and had a ‘victoria wood’ feeling around it – the delivery of the text is what stood out. Her dialogue was well paced and well delivered.

Mary Moore as Debbie was full of life, her character was warming and likable. Moore hooked the audience in from the start. Her ability to capture the audience was key in ensuring the emotional key point of the performance and she executed her role fantastically.

Christopher D. Hunt displayed great realism in his character Jeff. He did not miss a mark. He had the audience in the palm of his hand, waiting for his next line. The character was extremely interesting and left you wanting more.

Alan Stocks as Dave showcased versatility at it’s best, his commitment to his characters was stellar. Although his characters were repetitive and similar in nature, his use of accents, body language and humour kept them interesting for the audience and extremely enjoyable.

The boy band played their role well, leaning into the over exaggerated pretty boy character. They executed their choreography excellently. Their harmonies worked really well and their on stage relationships with each other were well considered and thought out. They did an excellent job of commanding the attention of the audience and encouraging the audience to participate which brought a lot of joy to the production.

The production was heartwarming, it was full of fun and overall a touching performance. There are some pacing issues and some creative choices which take away from the emotional drive of the play. For example during Claire’s monologue there is space left for lines of a song to be delivered which overall takes away from the monologues emotional journey. The audience enjoyed all the smash hits.

The choreography was 90’s fun loving, boy band moves! A lot of fun, there was a good balance of simplistic steps which could be copied and performed by the everyday fan and some more intricate dance moves that wowed the audience. The set design by Lucy Osborne was simplistic, yet effective. The use of the steps created a lovely visual image, almost cinematic.

Overall the performance is a great night out, it has a wonderful storyline which is heart-warming and a relatable tale of loss and love. The hits are great fun, the music is fantastic and performed with exceptional energy from the cast.