Dinner ladies set for big servings of laughter
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Andrew Dunn and Sue Devaney from the televised version of ‘Dinnerladies’.
IT is over a decade since comedienne Victoria Woods’ first attempt at a sit-com, "Dinnerladies", served its last course, so actor Andrew Dunn was as surprised as anyone when the show went on to enjoy a second helping on the stage instead.
So a dozen years since donning the white hat and overalls of canteen manager Tony, the long suffering foil of Woods’ eponymous dinner ladies, he is about to put them on again as the play begins its Inverness run at Eden Court on Monday.
One of two original cast members appearing live, the other being Sue Devaney, as a self-described jobbing actor he was happy to revisit the role.
However, he has found he is not the only person familiar with his part.
"I think because it’s been repeated so often and regularly on satellite channels people watch it over and over again and it seems to be more popular now than when it first came out," Dunn suggested.
"A lot of people stop me in the street about it, you get people quoting lines from it which I can’t remember! But yes, people do remember it."
Perhaps one reason it seems more popular now is the show’s slightly shaky start.
Dunn comments that the poor reviews the show received in its first season made Wood work even harder on the second.
"It got sort of absorbed into people’s lives and they started to recognise the characters," he said.
"It’s like other sit-coms like ‘Dad’s Army’ and things like that. The first series wasn’t terribly successful, but they kept with it and it grows on people. Petula Gordino, Julie Walters’ character, is a prime example.
WWhen she first came on people didn’t know who she was, this nutty lady coming out and doing her monologues, but by the second series as soon as she came on people started whooping. They knew who she was then."
Seeing the show more than once also helps viewers appreciate it more, Dunn believes. Woods’ writing was so dense that people could miss some of the lines because they were still laughing at the joke that preceded it.
"It was a fantastic experience," Dunn said of his involvement in the short-lived show.
"It was Victoria’s first sit-com and because she was writing it herself, she probably found it quite hard, but thankfully she persevered and got through."
This is actually the fourth tour of the play and a new version largely taken from the final episode when the canteen and factory it serves are threatened with closure.
Dunn regards Tony as the man who thinks he holds it all together as the bloke in charge of the eponymous dinner ladies.
As an actor he could almost be said to be occupying a similar position himself as a near constant in a constantly changing cast — even if those cast members do look slightly familiar.
Along with Devaney, who not only recreates her original role as Jane the secretary, but plays Petula Gordino, Dunn shares the stage with a cast that looks as though they might also have been in the programme.
"They get people who look alike and sound alike to the people in the television show," Dunn explained.
"Sometimes they’re incredible. Laura Sheppard who’s playing Bren — Victoria Wood’s part — sounds like her and looks like her and she’s got all the mannerisms. It’s quite bizarre, but I think it helps the audience forget she’s not Victoria Wood and they get into the play a bit more.
"It was very odd when myself and Shobna Gulati (Anita) turned up for the first tour. All these actors and actresses turned up dressed as the characters and we were just gobsmacked, especially when they started talking
"Victoria came to see the first tour, and I think she found it very odd as well."
"Dinnerladies" is far from the only place viewers will recognise Dunn from with credits including "The Bill", "Holby City", "55 Degrees North", "Heartbeat" and a recurring role as New Labour’s Prince of Spin Alastair Campbell in the political satire, "Bremner, Bird & Fortune".
Aside from "Dinnerladies", however, he is probably best known as Roger Stiles from a two year stint on "Coronation Street".
"That’s such a big organisation and you don’t realise that until you’re in it," Dunn said.
"It took me six months to meet all the cast. It was an exciting experience. I’m glad I did it, I just wish I’d been in more major storylines.
Like "Coronation Street", "Dinnerladies" is also very much routed in the working class culture of the north of England, so how does it travel?
"In the south you get people who go to the theatre regularly whereas in the north, people are more choosy and will go and see what they want to see, so they tend to go out more for a night out and enjoy themselves more," Dunn said.
"But yes, it definitely goes better north of the Midlands than in the south."
Victoria Wood’s "Dinnerladies" is at the Empire Theatre, Eden Court from Monday 30th May to Wednesday 1st June at 8pm.
