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Bridesmaids of Britain
26th September 2023 - 30th September 2023
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Bridesmaids of Britain has arrived!
A hilarious show that promises to be the girl’s night out to remember. Becky is the overly loyal Maid-of-Honour whose life unravels as she leads her best friend, Sarah on a wild ride down the
road to matrimony. Things go awry as competition between Becky and Sarah’s new BFF (best friend forever) Tiffany (she’s so gorgeous you would just hate her) over who is the bride’s best friend, threatens to upend the wedding planning that has been in the making since primary school.
Prepare yourselves for dance-offs/sing-offs and eventually shout-offs at the “Hen do of the year”…held in a caravan!! Will this wedding story have a happy ending, or will these best friends rip each other apart? Grab your pals and throw on your garter for a hilarious night out filled with laughter and tears (and more laughter).
Recommended Age: 14+
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Event Reviews
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The View From The Stalls
Bridesmaids (of Britain) is the UK adaptation of Bridesmaids of Northern Ireland, a play by comedian Diona Doherty and is a "comedy parody" (loosely based on the American film of the same name) surrounding the preparations for the wedding of Sarah (Kathryn Rutherford) and her choice of bridesmaids, her oldest friend and Liverpudlian Becky (Rebecca Tebbett) and her newest, Chelsea girl Tiffany (Rebecca Jayne-Davies). Old friend and new friend compete for attention as northern values and southern equivalents are tested to breaking point as they vie for providing the best pre-wedding party - in the Bahamas or a caravan up north?
The show, which usually runs for a single night at each venue and was originally scheduled for one night in Malvern gets an extended 5 night run this week, is very much in your face as is the language used throughout. It is also extremely loud, far more so than is necessary in the venue of the size of Malvern and indeed would have been far better without microphones as the amplification inevitably changes their voices.
At the end of the first half, something very strange happened. The scene ended, the stage lights went off and then… nothing. No applause and the audience filed out to the bar. The second half, whilst continuing in the same crude vein comedy-wise, was more enjoyable as reconciliation between the friends became achievable and a gentler and more understanding side came to the fore.
On the plus side, there was some good acting on the part of the three ladies and some well-choreographed dance moves which also brought the comedy, which won't be everyone's cup of tea or glass of Prosecco, to a close. Ultimately though it suffered from having vocals and music which were excessively loud, something which could be easily resolved.
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Poppy
I loved the show on my birthday I loved it all and really enjoyed it as well
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Lynda
Took my Daughter in law to be (December wedding) to the show. Oh wow! We had a fantastic time. Poignant in parts but very, very funny! The actors never missed a beat. Excellent production 👏 I so want to see it again. Well done guys
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A View from Behind the Arras
This hilarious show, presented to us by Robert C Kelly and GBL productions promises a girls’ night out to remember.
Becky, the bride’s overly loyal Maid of honour, leads the action as she prepares her best friend Sarah for her wedding.
The journey begins to get rocky as competition arises between Becky and Sarah’s new BFF (best friend forever) Tiffany, who tries to take over Sarah’s role and upend her (not so meticulous) planning.
However with Sarah, Becky has compiled a “wedding book” to include all the things important to her from her childhood important to her.
Tiffany plans an elaborate engagement party for Sarah at the Ritz and presents her with a £280 bottle of champagne, much to Becky’s disgust.
We witness dance offs, sing-offs and eventually shout-offs, as the two “best friends” compete over their memories of time spent with Sarah at the “Hen do of the year” held in a caravan!!
Fierce slanging matches culminate in Becky storming off and accusing Tiffany of interfering and Sarah of trying to change herself. Becky is proud of being working class!
Now left alone with the wedding arrangements, Tiffany starts to flag, especially as Sarah is clearly missing Becky’s input.
Eventually she visits Becky and confesses her real East End working class background and her unhappy life and marriage which are both a sham.
Becky returns to her Maid of honour duties bringing the wedding book with her having fulfilled Sarah’s wishes and there is an emotional happy ending with all three girls celebrating together in a medley of song and dance.
All three actresses gave their all with a particularly strong performance in the role of Becky.
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Showtime!
Thanks to the combined efforts of the Spice Girls and Oasis some three decades ago, ‘rude’ became the new rock ‘n’ roll.
The former were extremely talented, the latter much less so. Had the Gallaghers devoted as much time to the song-writing as they did in their relentless mission to convince a gullible London-centric media about how ‘hard’ and uncouth they were, then a much bigger and indelible mark would have been left on this country’s low-end cultural history.
Regardless of their respective contributions, their joint legacy – that wall-to-wall grossness is cool – persists to this day, hence Diona Doherty’s runaway success with Bridesmaids, which at times is such an assault on the senses that it makes you want to dig a slit trench in the stalls and take cover.
For the words come at you like machine gun bullets, the script fired at you with an intensity that conceals the essential thin-ness of the plot. But no matter, that’s not all that important, in the scheme of things.
Here we have two bridesmaids, a bride… and all the indications are that somebody’s metaphorical funeral cannot be far off.
Maid-of-honour Becky is happy bride Sarah’s long-time best friend, assured of her place in the icing at the very top of the wedding cake.
But the arrival on the scene of interloper Tiffany soon puts the fly in the Prosecco. For she is the new bestest-buddy and Becky doesn’t like it one bit.
Becky, by the way, talks like a women’s toilet wall, her mouthings not so much conversation, rather verbal graffiti. In stark contrast, Tiffany’s poshness increases at the same rate as her rival’s diction becomes ever more crude.
Yet foul-mouthed Becky’s quite right when she hints that Tiffs might be sitting on a broom handle requiring a surgical intervention. Which in any event couldn’t take place as Britain’s doctors are all on strike these days.
Nevertheless, the truth is that Becky and Tiffany deserve one other. Anyone who has ever had the appalling misfortune of spending the night in an airport hotel room next to a hen party will know what I mean.
So, the scene is very firmly set – fake posh totty versus a bit of Stockport rough, class warfare conducted in a welter of taffeta, tiaras, fascinators and fashions for the fuller figure.
Naturally, being professionally Northern, Becky swears a lot, conforming to the English middle-class perception that this is what the lower orders tend to do. Once, the cliché was a steaming hotpot of flat caps, clogs and constant ay-oops. Now, you must talk like Liam Gallagher doing an interview with Alan Yentob for BBC2 to gain maximum cred.
However, although this production is tirelessly vulgar, and so in-your-face that one is left gasping for air, it’s fair to say that this is the way British theatre is going, so we need to get used to it.
Entirely representative of Britain in the year 2023, this is a world of fat gipsy weddings, drag queens, celebrity worship, Love Island and all the rest of the shallowness that now defines us as a nation.
In other words, Bridesmaids of Britain is a fitting commentary on the present and the confusing world that we all now inhabit. Basically, Bridesmaids is worth seeing for the cringe-factor alone.
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Fairy Powered Productions - Kathie Hodges
Loosely based on the movie Bridesmaids ~ Bridesmaids of Britain tells the story of Sarah ~ the Bride to be and the new found rivalry between her oldest friend Becky and her new seemingly posh and perfect best friend Tiffany.
You enter to see the stage lit up in a striking bright pink which wows at first glance, and a wedding dress, but that’s about as much styling as you can expect, the set is very simple and though you are promised a great night out of huge belly laughs with your girlfriends, the show lacked rather. I was grateful I didn’t drag my girlfriends along.
The three actresses (Kathryn Rutherford, Rebecca Tebbitt, Rebecca Jayne-Davies) did the best job they could with what they had, there were laughs, dance offs, sing offs and lots of gobbing off (expect strong language from the outset) but the script was seriously lacking.
I wouldn’t rush to this one sadly.
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S Jones
I had to give a one star because that’s the lowest I could give. Absolutely shocking show. Terrible. The script was awful and repetitive, lots of unnecessary expletives in a vain attempt to be funny. The actors seemed to be shouting as opposed to projecting their voices! So was really loud! As for the stage props and set, just what seemed to be a bit of ply covered in peeling paper, a couple of velvet sofas, a few flowers and some clothes rails brought in between what was supposed to be different areas. I’d say it was amateur at best, although I’ve seen many more amateur performances that topped this show by far! Over-rated and overpriced. Save your money because it just wasn’t worth it. I’d bought the tickets for a gift a friends birthday so it was very disappointing. A lot of people rest were there at the start, didn’t even make the second half as they walked out and didn’t come back in. Felt completely let down as the promises made were just not delivered. Dancing was quite amusing but the whole show totally dreadful
