Thursday, 18th April 2024 at Leeds Grand Theatre
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Kay Mellor’s The Syndicate has made its way from screen to stage with this play, with daughter Gaynor Faye directing in her late mother’s honour. Based on Series 1 of the hit TV series, this show follows a number of ordinary folk trying to make ends meet before they (no spoiler here, I’m sure) win big on the Lottery and their lives are changed forever.
Our ordinary folk are a likeable bunch from the off. We’re at the local shop and the gang are pottering about on the last shift of the day – and they’re a pretty classic mix of amicable strangers brought together through nothing more than a paying job.
We have Denise (Samantha Giles), the dog-mad middle aged lass with a good heart and an unhappy husband at home; a couple of brothers – Jamie and Stuart (Oliver Anthony, Benedict Shaw) with family drama and secret schemes; Leanne (Rosa Coduri-Fulford), the sweet-natured young woman keeping a single parent family afloat; and the much-liked boss, Bob (Williams Ilkley). They’re each battling some silent worries and hoping for better tomorrows… perfect timing for a syndicate win, eh?
Other characters join later to stir up a little more trouble – Brooke Vincent as the entitled wife Amy, Jerome Ngonadi as the unperturbed detective Newall, complete with a classic wry edge, and Gaynor Faye herself as Kay, the lively Lottery Rep looking for publicity, publicity, and more publicity.
Ilkley is perhaps the warmest and most endearing on stage, with Bob taking on a grandfatherly role and reacting to a pretty traumatic life experience with distinctly northern good nature. Giles is that mumsy brand of charismatic as Denise, who flubs her own stories with tangents and navigates her new wealth with a playful new lease on life.
Anthony takes the crown for the most convincingly played immature egotist that I’ve seen in recent years – he’s excellent in his pursuit of inspiring eye rolls. The back and forth between the bickering brothers moves between tension and light comedy well, but Faye is the strongest comic talent, with great timing and spot on subtle reactions to the idiocy playing out before go-getter Kay.
Much of Mellor’s writing is designed to highlight the relatability of her creations, and their gently funny and often inconsequential patter provides the bulk of stage time here. But revelations and complications are pretty quick to appear and each character has their moment to develop, particularly once that lottery win arrives. Bretta Gerecke’s bright and bold costuming gives a nice shorthand for the transformations of characters too – not just in terms of their win giving them money for a better wardrobe, but their win giving them a bolder sense of life and how to live it once you’re out from under a dull 9-5.
That said, I’d have really liked some bolder staging to match the energy of that costuming. The closing moments are stylistically the strongest of the whole show and I think more could be done to breathe life into some lengthier scenes – not to mention relieving the strain of some fairly regular scene transitions in blackout.
While the final moments bring us to familiar territory when it comes to unspoken maxims about money and happiness, there’s an interesting mix of crime drama, comedy and domestic drama along the way. It’s nicely done, this blend, but it means The Syndicate is not quite thoroughly gripping as drama and not laugh-out-loud as comedy. It’s definitely entertaining and amusing though, and offers some great characters to spend an evening with.
The Syndicate is at Leeds Grand Theatre until April 28th 2024 – more information and tickets can be found here.
Always Time For Theatre 
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