"Revlon Girl" by Neil Anthony Docking.

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

Set eight months after the Aberfan Disaster of 1966, in which 144 people were killed (116 of them children), "The Revlon Girl" tells the real-life story of a group of bereaved mothers who met every week above a local hotel to talk, cry and even laugh without feeling guilty. At one of their previous meetings, the women looked at each other and admitted how much they felt they’d let themselves go. Afraid that people will think them frivolous, they’ve secretly arranged for a representative from Revlon to come and give them a talk on beauty tips.

The play takes place in a function room above the Aberfan Hotel. June 1967.

There's a lovely balance between comedy and the whole seriousness of the situation and the story, and to tell the truth, it was funnier than I had expected, given the subject matter of the play. That said, when the serious stuff hit, it really did hit home straight away, and quite made you feel guilty about laughing at the previous scene, especially with one particular scene involving Sian when she talks about her husband.

This tight knit cast have obviously worked so well together that this one act, no interval, piece of theatre is a powerful ensemble piece where no one character usurps the others for the spotlight; every character has a personal story to relate about how the disaster affects them, and they get their time to spill.

Charlotte Carter plays Sian who tries to keep the peace and is desperate for another child. Her husband will not even entertain this suggestion due to his embarrassment after Sian caught him crying over the loss of their son. She is counting on the Revlon representative to help her make herself attractive to her husband again.

Marilyn, traumatised and struggling with the reality that her children were taken in the disaster, carries her daughters' drawing around with her in her handbag, hoping and waiting for them to come home from school. She has not visited the graves as this would drive home the reality that they were gone. Marilyn is played by Natalie Webster

Rona is played by Mollie Kneeshaw. Rona swears a lot, is blunt and tells it as she sees it, expressing the frustration felt by many of the bereaved mothers who believe they lost their children because of  the deception and lies of the coal board who had been warned about the dangers. What makes her even more upset is the pitiful compensation given to the bereaved families. Rona is a wonderful character because she is so honest, and you know that the pain is still so raw.

Lucie Conroy plays Jean, the wife of a Vicar. Jean was pregnant and copes with the disaster by believing that God had a reason for taking the children. She lost her son in the tragedy but also has a daughter who was fortunately at home, sick on the day of the disaster, and resents her daughter for being the one still living, and for not being more grateful that she is still there when her son was taken.

Charlotte, the Revlon Girl, is played by Chloe Davie. Charlotte feels uneasy about being there, and had originally volunteered because she thought she could make a difference to the lives of the mothers The women are still traumatised and they often take their frustrations out on Charlotte, who finds herself revealing her real reason for volunteering. 

After some frank exchanges they all came to the conclusion that looking after yourself and putting on your makeup can be an important part of recovery and can make you feel better and easier to face the world.

The voice you hear off stage is for the character Jackie, who is heard but never seen and is played by Linda Hoyland.

Directed by Sharon Philips. With the play being performed in the upstairs studio theatre, the intimacy brings out everything that the writer wants to say, and everything that the Director wanted to show about these women. Sometimes, on the bigger stage, emotions can be diluted due to the distance from stage to auditorium, but every raw nerve, fear and emotion are just feet away from your eyes. As far as I can remember, Sharon is a new name to me, so I know nothing of her skills in the theatre, but as a first view of her directorial talents, this is incredibly good, and creates a "fly on the wall" feel.

Lighting Design is by Esther Warren. There is no need to create a flashy light design for a situation like this, so the design reflects the basicness of the story and the stark lighting reflects the starkness of the story. I loved the timing of the lightning at a certain point in the story which added another laugh and broke the seriousness and the speech for that piece of the play. Effects for just when an effect makes the biggest impact is what I love to see, and Esther's design is spot on for this piece of theatre.

The special effects are thanks to Guy Evans and Linda Hoyland.

Sound Design and music is by Matthew Allcock. One of my favourite things to do is to get in the theatre early to take in the atmosphere and the music, and the music is what creates part of the atmosphere for this play as the music is all traditional Welsh music, and I love that the songs and artists used for the music backdrop are all listed in the programme. Even though I'm not Welsh, you get a real feeling of pride listening to the stirring selection of music.

Sound does play a large part in this play, right from the start and the sound bites and effects open the story with the sounds of the children happily playing followed by the horrific sound of the collapse of the colliery spoil tip which enveloped the school and killed 116 children and 28 adults. This sound effect is played out in complete darkness.

Stage Managed by Linda Hoyland, assisted by Fiona Bumman. There are a couple of scenes that require an off stage reaction and the management of these scenes just add more to the drama that you see on stage. 

Props have been sourced and managed by Linda Hoyland and Sharon Philips. Basic props are required but every prop used is perfect for the situation and set.

Costumes are courtesy of Sharon Philips and there's a lovely comparison between Revlon and the women of the village in the costumes they are dressed in.

Obviously with the story being set in Wales, accents are most important, and I love accents, especially the Welsh accent - it's such a sing-song style. Angela Hogarth has been drafted in as the accent coach to make sure that the accent is accurate and that all of the actors have the same regional dialect.

The show runs until Saturday 11 October but I heard tonight that the whole week is sold out, and after seeing this play, I can see why the tickets have sold so well. You may need to check for any returns if you planning on popping down.

Photography is by Kathryn Edwards.