Out The Woodwork, Gingerlee Does It Review
Written by Roby for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review. All views are our own
‘Out The Woodwork’ is a part of the Prescot Festival 2026 and tells the story of a woman who wins £30 million on the lottery and how her friends and family react. It’s a charming play overflowing with scouse wit, but it doesn’t quite hit the jackpot for me.
It’s worth saying that the audience really enjoyed this play. Lee Clotworthy’s writing is strong throughout, and he knows just how to keep his audience satisfied, providing jokes, quick-witted comments, as well as an engaging plotline with many unexpected twists. Personally, I think the two acts could have been split up better – Act 1 ran for nearly an hour, whereas Act 2 only 30 minutes. As well as this, it did take quite a while for the lottery win to occur, but the character building throughout the beginning of the play was humorous and generally well-paced, just could be a bit shorter.
It’s a shame that Clotworthy’s direction isn’t quite as strong; a lot of his characters are ‘larger than life’, but at times become almost caricatures, and as a result, the acting can lack naturalness. The cast throughout is a real strength of the show and delivers great performances based on the material they have to work with. But I ultimately think that Clotworthy’s direction has led them to overdo certain scenes, going from zero to one hundred and quite often leading to lots of shouting or caricature-like performances, both of which can at times feel unrealistic. I think to some extent this is the goal of the show, to create larger-than-life, relatable characters, but I think it almost goes too far. Each to their own I suppose!
As mentioned though, the cast (Kate Harcus, Geraldine Moloney Judge, Mike Newstead, Francis J Brack, Kizzy Leigh and Roxanne Male) do well with what they have. There isn’t really a particular standout, as all give good performances with sharp comedic timing. The cast clearly have good chemistry with each other, and really bounce off each other, delivering consistent performances throughout, even if they are consistently over the top.
Overall, Out The Woodwork displays great potential to become a beloved scouse play, and to some audience members tonight, it already has. If the writing can become a little bit tighter without losing its sharp wit, and the direction can introduce some more realism, then this show could be a hit. I look forward to following this show’s journey in the future!
★★★
