Stage is set for Bingo!
Suddenly, pals have babies and you don’t see as much of them
THE fragility of female friendship, the sense of loss when babies arrive on the scene, the ticking of the biological clock...
There are a full house of themes contained i n Bingo!, a new comedy musical that’s set to appear in Glasgow – and actress Jo Freer is loving the chance to play a woman on the edge.
“I play Ruth, who is Daniella’s (Louise McCarthy) best friend since they were five,” she says.
“Ruth is a new mum to a baby boy and they are all part of a group of women who enjoy a night at the bingo every week.
“Ruth is desperate for a good night out but anxious at the same time. She can’t quite cut the cord with the baby. Half of her brain is still at home and she’s highly stressed.
“I think this is true to life for lots of new mums – and new dads – who can’t quite make the separation with the baby.”
Jo admits she loves the chance to play characters that stretch her skills.
“I love playing grotesques,” she says. Her most recent grotesque was the Tron panto’s Dora The Dormouse, a mutton- dressed-as-mutton Glesga wummin with perpetual dancin’ feet and a sharp one-liner delivery. Her Dora was exquisite.
“Give me a pair of leopard print tights and an acrylic fur coat and I’m happy,” says the lady who grew up in Glasgow’s South Side.
Now, Jo is back i n printed tights with Bingo!,. but as well as the role calling for lots of angst and nervous energy, the play contains a dark plotline that sees friendships tested harder than the idea of playing 10 bingo books at the one time.
We learn the group of women are planning to go away for Betty’s (Jane McCarry) hen do. They have been saving for months to have their breakaway. But then the break is threatened with an astonishing discovery.
The play also focuses on the changing relationships of women who have babies and friends who don’t. “Daniella feels abandoned since Ruth’s baby was born,” says Jo. “It’s a really interesting notion; suddenly, pals have babies and you don’t see as much of them. And this is really true to life.” It’s true of actresses. “In the play there’s a wedding planned, and this creates a sense of someone else being left behind.
“In the arts, that can be the case. It’s a life in which you struggle for work and are focused on a career. Meantime, your friends who are Muggles, normal people with normal lives, are doing all these normal things.”
Has Jo’s personal life been impacted upon by her career choice?
“I think given the demands of the job some things are put on the back burner,” she offers.
“It’s not because we’re seeking the massively big career break but because we go from job to job, with one foot on the next thing. And in some ways life can slip away from you.”
She adds: “But not in terms of experiences. In some ways we get to experience life in a much more vigorous or intense way.”