The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Tour - Sheffield)
The empty, brittle performances lose all the warmth and poignancy of Jim Cartwright's script, which is robbed of all its moments of significance. Its humour is reduced to the formula that Northern people are funny and fat Northern people funnier; admittedly an assumption that the Sheffield audience seem only too keen to endorse.
Robinson sings well and is an excellent impressionist, but while this would be enough to sustain Little Voice's club act, it cannot carry a two hour stage show, or the emotional arc of its central role. Robinson gurns and squirms her way through the character; a stereotype of awkward timidity.
The ensemble work well to create the atmosphere of Mr Boo's club, even playing bingo with the willing audience in the interval. But if this is the kind of evening you're after, you'll receive a warmer, more honest night out at one of our region's many social clubs.