Theatre can reflect the opinions and prejudices of society and be the barometer of attitudes which can change remarkably quickly. Amanda Whittington’s play, Be My Baby, was first seen at the Soho Theatre in 1989, but was set in the1960s, not so long after the war and before the widespread use of the contraceptive pill. At that time unwed pregnancy drew the harsh disapproval of the older generation and  little or no sympathy for the pregnant young women. Those of us old enough to remember the sixties may recognise the enormous changes in social  attitudes  that have taken place during the past 50 years.
Amanda Whittington began writing for radio but moved on with a number of plays which are not seen in the major London theatres but have become popular in regional and community theatres. For example, By My Baby had a successful run in last year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
This play borrows the title of the 1963 single performed by The Ronettes and produced by Phil Spector, epitomising his Wall of Sound. The author has linked the stories of the young women with popular songs of the sixties which provide the soundtrack of the age and lighten the sadness of the situation. Most of us will be glad that the barbarities of the mother and baby homes exemplified in the play have disappeared, virtual prisons where young mothers forced to give up their new-born babies for adoption. Many of them then endured lives of emotional emptiness caused largely by social snobbery and moral bigotry.
The play is not without its sadness, but Amanda Whittington has found a way of keeping it light; there’s plenty of humour and plenty of song. But bring some tissue.
BILL  BRAY

Our next production takes you back to the Swinging Sixties.  A period of carefree pleasure, money to burn and entertaining offerings around every corner.  Well, not if you were pregnant and unmarried.  Attitudes were very different in those supposedly hedonistic days which were, in most cases, the creation of the London-based media caught up in a frenzy of  creating a world that was, in reality, far removed from the experience of most of the rest of the population.
Be My Baby tells the story of four girls who have committed the unpardonable sin of becoming pregnant outside wedlock. Tucked away in their Church of England-run mother and baby home in the North of England they await the delivery of their babies who will then be given up for adoption.
In these bleak surroundings we learn of their individual back-stories and watch as they come to terms with their circumstances and get what fun they can from their new friendships and their love of popular music, particularly the American girl groups whose popularity became a feature of the 1960s.
It is a play which, I believe, will make you laugh and cry.  Our six-strong all-female cast employs established GWT performers and some brand new ones to entertain you. Sue Higginson and Brenda Joyce last seen a year ago in After September, play the two adults in the cast as Matron and Mrs Adams respectively.  They have no wish to challenge the status quo and their intransigence is a response to their understanding of the difficulties that lie ahead for any young woman who tries to go it alone with a new baby to support.
Our four pregnant youngsters are played by Aysev Ismail, who in the last two seasons, was superbly funny as the maid in Glorious! and was one of the bright young things in Promises, Promises; Francesca Simmons, who excelled in her GWT debut as Mary Warren in The Crucible last October, and two actors new to our stage: Lauren-Jean Reeves and Maddie Smedley.  Maddie is a very good comedienne, but catch her in this show while you can, because she is off to drama school in September and you may have to pay higher prices in the future to watch her elsewhere!
The play makes a serious comment on a period of our recent history, but there is much to enjoy in a show which is as close to a musical as the GWT can get without adding £2 to the price of the ticket.  Many of the songs in the extensive play list, to which the girls sing and dance, will evoke memories of a time which may, for some reasons, be best now left behind.  Do come and have a laugh, a weep and maybe even see how many of the songs you remember (and how many you’ve forgotten)

COLIN  HILL,  Director