Amelia Bullmore's Di and Viv and Rose

Directed by Steve Wooldridge

Gallery Studio Theatre St George's Street Ipswich

It was a cold evening, but we were able to park almost right outside the theatre, which is a massive bonus in Ipswich, so we were off to a great start.

The theatre looks like a converted school from the outside and a station bar on the inside. I had imagined groovy coffees and nooks and crannies, we've been spoilt by the Quay Theatre, Sudbury. The auditorium was high ceilinged with not uncomfortable bench seating, and it was packed.

The stage was set with images from our own late teens and The Cure were playing. Then the women; Emilia Green as Rose, Jo Lewis as Di

and Hadleigh's very own Emily Slade as Viv, began to tell their story. Reflecting on the tale, it is full of the best clichés. Women thrown together will form a pseudo family system…be wary of each other, accept each other, accommodate each other, then love each other, hate each other, betray each other, back each other. It's a funny play, but 'The Young Ones' it is not. And it's not all 'coriander' and 'whose turn is it to go to the launderette?' either. For me, it dealt with the horrors of being Di and Viv and Rose with the tenderness of someone who had been there, in Mossbank, with them, one of them, at that time. Female experiences beautifully written by Bullmore and perfectly delivered by the cast. From the slightly headache inducing payphone scenes of the first few minutes, through those which stir your own emotions and memories, to the end where I could imagine that some men might have only half got it, I wonder how many of us in the audience got more in touch with the material than we could possibly admit, and something in their eye. Amelia Bullmore's Di and Viv and Rose, has its last night tonight

April 9 with tickets available at £10.

The Gallery Players at the Gallery Studio Theatre, Ipswich

Emilia Green as Rose

Emily Slade as Viv

Jo Lewis as Di