An air-raid siren wails and an officious woman in a tin hat bustles us down to the basement of the Drill Hall, which has become a wartime shelter for the evening in this eccentrically Sapphic slice of entertainment, a companion piece to last year's Victorian offering, In the Parlour With the Ladies, with which it is running in rep. It is much the same format, a song or two, some larking about and a little harmless lady-on-lady lust.
Fifty years on, in 1943, the descendants of the genteel bustlewearers are taking on men's work in the war, and, as before, the skeletons continue to tumble out of the closet (see, homosexuality really is genetic).
Christmas heralds a reunion for the family of matriarch Clara (a rather fresh-faced, though sweet-voiced, Lisa McNaught), notably her daughters, Binkie, Babs and Beryl, three gels who are doing their thing for ENSA. So, time for a few numbers - Vera Lynn standards, gung-ho rallying songs, even a raffle (proceeds, appropriately, to War Child): top prize a banana, followed by tights and chocolate.
It is all rather homespun stuff thanks to some clunky plotting and lacklustre pacing in Nona Shepphard's cheap and cheerful production. And while Adjoa Andoh is a touch OTT as wannabe performer Minnie, with her big black mamma ventriloquist's doll and failed tricks, her sultry, low singing tones are a bonus in the numbers.
An Andrews Sisters medley finale adds much-needed camp to this dose of Blitz-induced stiff upper lipness. It is not especially seasonal, either, though Silent Night performed to the sound of bombing is a moving highlight. Oh yes, and there's talk of a turkey-baster ...
In The Bunker With The Ladies
