Malory Towers was one of my absolute favourite books as a child. By reading just a few pages I could be whisked away from my inner city comprehensive school to the iconic towers on the Cornish coast, filled with midnight feasts and lacrosse matches. My memories of the books are so precious I was actually quite nervous to watch Emma Rice's stage adaptation - but I needn't have worried.
Liverpool Playhouse was filled with a mix of inter-generational families, showing the book's appeal from grandma to granddaughter, even in our modern day. The production quickly whisks us from a school in 2026 to 1947 via some clever staging and projection and before too long we're introduced to our band of first formers, led by Enid Blyton's heroine Darrell Rivers.
Let's face it, everyone wants to be Darrell and her portrayal by Robyn Sinclair is brilliant as she shows the character's warmth and genuineness alongside her temper - because even though Darrell is our hero, she's not without her flaws and that's exactly what makes her so loveable.
Before too long we meet Darrell's classmates and fellow dormitory dwellers. Malory Towers is above all about friendship and you can see the cast have worked hard to emulate this with the bonds between the girls appearing warm and heartfelt. The play shows us that there is strength in difference and there is someone for everyone to relate to with all the girls having their quirks.
The production is a celebration of girlhood and friendship with the dormitory jinks and excitement of putting on the play showing the importance of embracing the joy in the everyday. There are also strong messages about doing the right thing and sticking up for your friends in the face of adversity.
The staging is creative throughout, with some inspired puppetry providing some laughs as well as moving the narrative on at pace. The clifftop scene is also expertly done through a combination of animation and more puppetry.
There's some brilliant musical numbers, with a wide range of genres providing something for everyone to enjoy. There are strong vocals from the cast throughout, but Stephanie Hockley - playing music obsessed Irene Dupont - particularly shines, especially in "Hush now Sally".
Spiteful bully Gwendoline Lacey is played by Anna Soden, who has the pantomime villain down to a tee. But she also does a great job at showing Gwen's vulnerable side - which goes some way to explain exactly why she is so horrid. In the books Gwen has to leave the Towers after her father becomes an invalid following an illness he sustained in WW2. But the play goes one step further than this - with Gwen called to the office by the headmistress and told her father has died - leading to gasps from the audience.
And it's this scene that shows life is not all sunshine and rainbows as headmistress Miss Grayling - voiced by Shelia Hancock - tells the girls Gwen's father died because of what he witnessed in the war. Miss Grayling explains what thousands of men went through and sacrificed to protect our future. The scene is very moving and expertly done, with Emma Rice not scared to shy away from the realities of the fallout of war and the impact on mental health. It's this scene that shows this production is not just for children or a nostalgic performance for older generations, there is an important message here for modern day audiences.
Before too long we're back at the modern day comprehensive school - via a clever bit of staging and a dream sequence. And though there may be almost 80 years between the two groups of girls Malory Towers shows that the world always needs "Good sound women the world can rely on."
Malory Towers is at Liverpool Playhouse until Saturday June 20.
