Bingo Star

What do you get if you cross a Henry hoover, an ageing hippie and three games of bingo during a musical theatre show? A classic night out at Liverpool’s Royal Court theatre for their latest Scouse comedy Bingo Star!

For 50 years, Arthur (Alan Stocks) has ran the local bingo hall, but spiralling debts mean the hall is facing closure. Supported by his daughter Lesley (Keddy Sutton), granddaughter Bella (Paige Fenton), and bingo hall employees Debbie (Helen Carter) and Keith (Jonathan Markwood), Arthur thinks his prayers have been answered when Tony (Paul Duckworth) from the council claims a redevelopment of the area will provide an influx of new members to the bingo hall. But can Tony be trusted? With the bingo hall doubling as the local food bank, there’s more at stake than just a few games of bingo.

This production is your typical Royal Court affair; a home-grown show full of local jokes, minor taunting of Liverpool council and The Echo, fantastic singing, and a heartfelt message.

The unique twist in this production though comes in the form of three full games of cash prize bingo that are played as part of the show. At every performance, a total of £150 is available to be won. Upon entering, every member of the audience is given a bingo card and during some 4th wall breaking bingo is encouraged to try and complete a line. Bingo dabbers are even on sale at the bars, so there’s no excuse not to participate. The lucky winner has to shout “ee y’ar!” to claim their prize, and a verified win continues the audience participation by a cry of “It’s legit - lucky git”.

As each game of bingo is woven into the overall storyline, the bingo never seemed to interrupt the flow of the production. The cast moved between scripted comedy and ad-libbed audience interaction with remarkable ease. A few times we did think Henry hoover bingo ball machines were going to be added to the old adage or never working with babies or animals, but the cast managed to rescue the contraption from the brink.

The characters created by writer (and Head of Marketing for the Royal Court) Iain Christie are believable, lovable and really do exist in bingo halls and working clubs across Merseyside. The depth Christie has put into these characters is ultimately the heart of the show.

The Royal Court is synonymous with musical talent, and this production was no exception. Royal Court favourite Helen Carter delivered spectacular vocals across a range of classic 80’s songs, whilst Paige Fenton’s rendition of the Cyndi Lauper classic ‘Time After Time’ was flawless. They shone the brightest though when combining their musical talents into some truly beautiful harmonies.

Olivia du Monceau has produced an impressive multi-level revolving set for this production. On one side is the bingo hall, stuck in a time-warp of faded glitz and eerily identical to some of the seaside bingo halls we have visited. On the other side, the set consisted of a hodge-podge of old bingo signs and furniture, intertwined with shelves stacked full of tins for the food bank which is unfortunately all too realistic.

Both sides of the set have multiple levels and doors onto the stage which gives the cast plenty of space, but very cleverly emphasises the death of the bingo hall; the cast seem tiny in comparison to the set, because the bingo hall is so empty.

There is no doubt that this is a classic Royal Court production, and this was definitely a very enjoyable show, but there felt like something was missing compared to previous productions. We’d recommend the show, but it wasn’t one of our favourite Royal Court offerings.

Bingo Star is on at Liverpool’s Royal Court until 8th April 2023. Tickets can be purchased via the Royal Court Theatre website.

Originally posted: March 18, 2023