"The Syndicate" by Kay Mellor.

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

"The Syndicate" follows five supermarket employees whose lottery syndicate numbers come in, just as their jobs and livelihoods are under threat and is based on the BBC Televison series of the same name. 

You can guarantee though that if someone wins a life changing amount of money that secrets will out, and people from your past will emerge from the woodwork, some not with the best of intentions, especially when your face and name is plastered all over the papers!

Gaynor Faye plays Kay, the lottery rep, always on the hunt for publicity for the lottery. I am a massive fan of this lady's work and have had the pleasure of seeing Gaynor before on stage. You know the sort of character that you're going to get with Gaynor; I possibly wouldn't be able to associate with a posh character played by Gaynor, which is why whenever you see her on stage, she plays  believable characters such as Kay, characters who are akin to Gaynor. Not saying that Gaynor may not be posh in her life away from the media, she just comes across as a lovely, down to earth person who you'd feel comfortable taking down the local for a few bevvies.

Samantha Giles, who you'll recognise as the gorgeous, unlucky in love Berneice Blackstock from "Emmerdale", plays Denise, a lovable maternal type character. Denise is more at home with dogs than her other half, Dave, who changes his mind about leaving her, after she has confided in him that she is part of the syndicate who has won a share of £24,000,000. 

I love this character Denise, who has a heart of 24 carat gold, always looking for the best in people, and it's not until the end that she shows a slightly negative opinion of one of the characters. 

Brooke Vincent, who you'll also recognise from "Coronation Street"'s Sophie Webster, plays Amy, Stewart's entitled wife. We first see Amy just as she has given birth to their second child, but all is not rosy within their relationship, and the pair are not living together. Oh how a bit of money can change all that! And oh how a snatch of covert information can provide power! Brooke looks incredible in this role and you soon forget the mouse like Sophie Webster, as the two characters are so very different, and we also see just what a confident stage actor Brooke is. Not all TV actors can take on the stage and look and sound so at home as Brooke does in this role. 

Oliver Anthony, who is Gaynor Faye's son and Kay Mellor's Grandson, makes his stage debut in "The Syndicate", although he did appear in the TV version, plays Jamie. Winning a large amount of money can change a person, and Jamie takes his new found wealth to the maximum. Jamie is cock-sure, even before the win, and afterwards he feels nothing can stop him, but the past comes back to avenge his good fortune! 

TV actors can often over emphasise looks, script delivery, reactions etc. to compensate for being on stage where you have to project everything, vocally and physical, whereas on TV everything is more pulled back. Jamie, however is one of those over-the-top characters who needs to be centre of attention, and Oliver's slight over emphasis of everything really hammers home this "me me me" attitude. This is in complete contrast to Jamie's brother, Stewart.

Benedict Shaw plays Stuart, Jamie's brother. He is married to Amy and is stressed to the max as he is having issues with Amy, she can't get on with her mother-in-law, and wants the champagne lifestyle on shandy wages. Stuart goes in to see Bob, his manager, to set his stall out for a rise in wages and an advance on that rise, so that he can raise enough to put a deposit down on a place for Amy, himself and his expanding family. He then finds out that the supermarket is to be taken over! Stuart is also behind on his syndicate lottery payments, so will this affect his share of the win?

William Ilkley, whose face you'll instantly recognise from his many roles in television programmes, plays the well-respected manager of the store, Bob. Something happens to Bob that in turn saves his life: but that one incident also changes the lives of some of the other characters in the play, and not necessarily for the better, proving money can not always buy happiness.

Rosa Coduri-Fulford plays Leanne, a single parent who is not as happy as some of the others when it comes to the publicity surrounding the syndicate's win. That's right, Leanne has a secret and the publicity brings one particular person from her past back into her life. 

Jerome Ngonadi plays Detective Newall, who gets involved after something happens one evening after the supermarket has closed for the night. In an almost Columbo style, Newall gets to the bottom of the incident.

Jade Golding makes her debut in a UK tour, plays Annie, who brings happiness into Bob's life, as well as playing several ensemble parts, or in other words, customers at the supermarket.

Connor-James Ryan also doubles up as customers in the supermarket and a party guest at the welcome home party for Bob at Stewart and Amy's newly rented mansion.

Written by Kay Mellor and directed by Gaynor Faye, this marks the world premiere of Mellor’s final stage play, following on from the huge success of her other stage adaptations; 'Band of Gold' and "Fat Friends". The mother/daughter duo have collaborated on multiple writing and directing projects, with "The Syndicate" marking the directorial debut for Gaynor and honouring the extraordinary talents of her mother, one of Britain’s most successful writers.

Bretta Gerecke is the Set and Costume Designer. On TV it's very easy to flit from set to set in the editing suite. On stage several settings has the tendency to look a little cluttered, but I thought the scene changes were done really well. The first act incorporated the supermarket, Bob's Office, the locker room, the hospital where Amy was after the birth of their second child as well the hospital room with Bob's bed.  The second act all took place at Stewart and Amy's rented mansion. This set had all working mod cons and was stylish, as you'd expect from Amy's dream crib! 

I loved the part of the script that showed Amy's intelligence level when she asked Alexa to put the kettle on to make a cup of tea!

Bretta's costume designs really highlighted the differences in costume and style in the before and after "lottery win" standards. Prior to the win the costumes were tabards, jeans, T shirts, all that you'd expect from supermarket staff. After the win the style, especially for Jamie and Amy, was bling all the way; a slightly more stylish attire was worn by Denise and Leann. The win didn't look to have affected Stuart's fashion sense too much, but then again Stuart was always the more grounded character, but he also had more on his mind than the others.

Lighting design was by Jason Taylor, and beside the light fade in and outs, there were some nice lighting effects, especially through the frosted style glass doors showing a very realistic red and blue police light, and the headlights of Jamie's Lamborghini as it was parked outside Stuart's mansion.

Max Pappenheim's sound design was also appropriate and well timed with the collection of sound effects.

I don't know if it's Kay Mellors' northern humour and writing technique, or whether Gaynor, Samantha and Brooke bring that kitchen sink soap drama feel to the stage. Whatever it is, it is made for us Northerners, and is like popping on your favourite slippers and jumper, it gives you a virtual warm, huggy feeling.

"The Syndicate" is a really entertaining piece of theatre. Kay Mellor's writing style is evident throughout with so much grounded comedy, but then there's that twist at the end which is very dark. Combined with several secrets that are discovered about the characters as the play progresses, the two and a quarter hours running time sped by. A play that certainly hits the jackpot for me.

This show also has an audio described performance on Thursday 6 June and runs until Saturday 8 June at the Nottingham Theatre Royal. If you've never seen the BBC series, take a gamble, get a ticket and come and see it.