Good Golly Miss Molly! review – people power with a joyous rock’n’roll spin

New Vic theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme A residents’ association fights to save its housing in Bob Eaton’s jolly slice of social history, with a live band belting out the songs At some point in the middle of the second half, you notice how insinuatingly Bob Eaton’s show has taken a hold of you. Until then, you have no reason to see it as more than one of those jolly slices of social history, the type that ticks off the shared experiences of pop and politics, leavened by a soundtrack of rock’n’roll standards and given a local spin with references to disappearing landmarks such as the Shelton Bar steel works . Eaton was at the vanguard of actor-musician shows when he first staged Good Golly Miss Molly! for the New Vic in 1989, and its story was topical. It is about the residents of Hawes Street in Tunstall, who resisted the council’s plan to demolish their houses as part of a slum clearance programme, and made the successful case for home improvements instead. At New Vic theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme , until 2 May Continue reading...

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