Blonde Bombshells of 1943

THERE'S something strange about this touring version of Alan Plater's play about an all-female big band in the Second World War.

It was first seen at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2004 and is based on his 2000 television film, The Last Of The Blonde Bombshells.

In one sense, it comes across as a straightforward, lightly-plotted tribute show focused on the Big Band sound of the 1940s, and the BBC light-entertainment culture of the period, which mixed band music with wry stand-up comedy and strange little novelty numbers in the style of George Formby. Yet on the other hand, it's also a half-serious play about women at work under wartime conditions, venturing into a male-dominated world and laying the foundations for the feminism their daughters would embrace 30 years later.

And in this version of the play – directed by Mark Babych – these two impulses often seem in conflict, with serious conversations tending to end abruptly, in clunking, heavily-signalled, comic one-liners.

Plater, though, remains an impressive theatrical craftsman, with a true northern voice and a lovely feeling for well-made popular drama. There are some richly enjoyable performances here, notably from Helen Power as posh Miranda and Bethany Audley as schoolgirl Liz.

And without plumbing any great depths, Blonde Bombshells offers some sharp thoughts and perception about the way the Second World War, for all its horrors, set women free to make what they wanted of their lives; and to create some terrific, liberating big-band sounds along the way.