The Pajama Game – Sutton’s Green Hut Theatre Company

I THOROUGHLY enjoyed my visit to see the Sutton's Green Hut Theatre production of The Pajama Game.

Although my first thought when I was handed the beautifully-produced programme was “When are the Americans going to get their spelling right? Don't they know that pyjama is spelt with a ‘Y’?”

I was sitting in row D, but my view was considerably blocked by the four-piece orchestra, who were excellent by the way, so I moved to row A, where my view was partially blocked by an annoying set of steps leading onto the stage.

It was a pity that both of these could not be sited with a little more thought for the audience's enjoyment.

The show itself was excellent. Terribly dated of course, and that is the charm of these 50s shows, but full of great songs surprisingly well-performed by an enthusiastic cast, some of whom still seemed to come from Yorkshire until they got their New York accents right!

The show is a busy one and whenever I have seen it, or been in it, there have seemed to be too many actors on the stage.

The stage at Sutton is small and sometimes the 20 cast members had to use some nifty footwork to avoid each other and the set, particularly in the factory scenes. I felt a bit of cast pruning would have helped.

The cast used the depth of the stage well... sometimes too well, and some of the scenes could have been brought a little further downstage.

I particularly enjoyed I’ll Never Be Jealous Again, There Once Was a Man and the finale song, Seven and a Half Cents and if I had to give an Oscar, it would have to go to Emma-Jayne Byers whose enthusiasm, singing voice and stage presence were excellent.

A super night, thank you Sutton.

Martin Carr