Review: Delicate Flowers, East Yorkshire
It was a remarkable hour of entertainment and how Amber Devine must have trained for this. I am a runner but even I couldn’t have delivered lines so clearly even when out of breath.
Delicate Flowers told the story of Battling Babs, the Hull-based boxer who defied the odds and became a champions. Her tale was told in a single act play with one actor. Young mother of one Karen saw an opportunity to make something of herself away from a life in administration and her struggles, inspired by Barbara Buttrick.
Mark Rees’ script has been performed by Single Story Theatre over a three-week tour in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, for its second outing, taking in various community venues.
Not only did Amber tell her story, but she had to find the energy to do a work-out between each sequence, digging deep to do sit-ups, burpies, running and boxing – and those are the routines that I could remember - as if to make the most of the time available
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I had missed the play during its first tour so was pleased to finally catch it at Cherry Burton during its 2019 run. Never mind the journey to success for Buttrick, this was also a memorable 60 minutes of theatrical challenge for Devine.
If it does the rounds again in East Yorkshire, make sure you catch it. The audience was small at Cherry Burton but when word gets around….it will deserve even better.
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