Yahoo News 'Lottery jackpot win comes at a price' - review of The Syndicate at Hull New Theatre
Money can’t buy you love, as the song will tell you, nor does it necessarily bring happiness – even if there’s a lot of it.
Lack of it can certainly lead people to do desperate things, and a play that opened at Hull New Theatre last night demonstrated this all too clearly. The Syndicate is a stage version of the hit TV series of the same name, parts of which were filmed in Hull.
This theatrical comedy drama tells the story of five supermarket workers whose lottery syndicate numbers come in, just as their jobs, and their relationships, are under threat. With a share of the £24m jackpot coming their way, the workers believe their troubles are over, but the win comes at a price for all of them, in one way or another.
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The play, billed as a funny and moving adaptation of the first series of the TV drama, was written by the late Kay Mellor and is directed by her daughter, actress Gaynor Faye – whose voice gets a cameo in the Hull run of the production. She is also appearing in the show during parts of its UK tour.
The characters are drawn beautifully and very individually by the cast members, I think. Samantha Giles is a suitably earnest but heart-very-much-in-the-right-place Denise, who is responsible for buying the fateful Mercury Millions lottery ticket for her colleagues. I do admit I thought I’d be seeing another Bernice Blackstock, Giles’ character in Emmerdale, up there on the stage, but she was far from it.
Another soap favourite Brooke Vincent was also about as far removed from Sophie Webster, who she played in Coronation Street for 15 years, as you can get with the self-seeking Amy. Gaynor Faye’s son Oliver Anthony plays feckless Jamie brilliantly – he has previously spoken about being “chuffed to bits” to be making his stage debut in his late grandmother’s final play.
Benedict Shaw, as Jamie’s brother, Stuart, executes his role with great aplomb, being torn between wanting to provide for his disingenuous girlfriend Amy and their children, and doing the right thing - at great cost to his boss Bob (William Ikley, a veteran of John Godbers' Hull Truck Theatre Company) and his own conscience.
Fellow supermarket worker and single mum Leanne (Rosa Coduri-Fulford) has a surprising reason for wanting to keep news of the lottery win out of the public eye. The great supporting cast help to bring things to a dramatic conclusion.
I would have loved to have seen the theatre packed out on opening night (perhaps Euro 2024 had something to do with attendance). For those who possibly swerved the show for football or any other reason, you missed a treat.
The Syndicate runs at Hull New Theatre until Saturday, July 13.
