This play is set in Grangewood School for Girls where the pupils, unlike the notorious sex kittens hell-bent on causing mayhem at St Trinian's, have cut-glass accents, wear grey gymslips, woolly tights and lustily sing the school song.
Denise Deegan's play, the last production by Ian Dickens in his summer repertory season, is an unashamed but affectionate pastiche of a girls' boarding school in the 1920s with many characters instantly recognisable. Expressions such as 'beastly' or 'topping' may no longer be in everyday use but the scenario of a girl from an elementary school who wins a scholarship to a school where girls are 'gels', meets her best friend on the first day, suffers bullying from two of her snobby classmates but eventually triumphs, still exists in today's independent all-girls boarding schools.
The gentle fun poked at such schools is, however, directed more at the novels of Angela Brazil and Enid Blyton who originally chronicled life in these establishments, and this performance recreates that atmosphere without mockery or satire.
Daisy (Carly Hillman), diminutive and gutsy, and Trixie (Julia Mallam), taller but easily led, are bosom chums; Sybil (Emily Bowker) and Monica (Eloise Irving) are Daisy's tormentors; head girl Clare (Jane Dowden) and sports captain Alice (Nicola Weeks) want everyone to 'play up and play the game'. Headmistress Miss Gibson (Kim Hartman), at times almost reprising her Nazi character Helga in 'Allo,'Allo; and Mr Scoblowski (Ben Roberts), Russian teacher of music and geography, are wholly believable members of staff.
Although the plot, which includes hidden treasure and Daisy finally reunited with her long-lost father, is preposterous, the set-piece hockey match and cliff-top rescue are immaculately choreographed pieces of theatre.
This production is as fresh as a daisy and as absolutely 'spiffing' and 'scrummy' as eating smuggled cream buns in the 'dormy'. 'Jubilate!'