A wonderfully silly piece of theatre, Betty Blue Eyes could only have been invented by Alan Bennett. One of the main characters – Gilbert, a young chiropodist – longs to make his wife Joyce happy by raising them a few rungs up the social ladder. Along the way, he is driven to steal a pig from the local doctor and hide her in the cupboard under the stairs. This kind of madcap romp is exactly what you would expect from an Alan Bennett script (originally the film, A Private Function), and adding music only makes it more fun.

The setting and events of Betty Blue Eyes are oddly familiar. Set in 1947, the war has been over for two years and still rationing is firmly in place – austerity for all, “fair shares for all”; a royal wedding is about to take place, and the characters all know how they plan to celebrate. History feels particularly cyclical when watching this play.

I always enjoy a musical, and this one is very catchy, hitting all the right notes (pun intended) with the audience. As I write my review, I find myself humming A Place on the Parade and Fair Shares for All. The bigger dance numbers were particularly good, and I wouldn’t have minded a few more of these.

The main characters, Joyce and Gilbert, drive the narrative, but my personal highlights are the show’s comic foils, Joyce’s mother, and Mr Wormald, the meat inspector from the Ministry of Food. Joyce’s mother is a slightly daft old lady, played by Sally Mates, and her hilarious number, Pig, No Pig! steals the show in the second half. Tobias Beer is Mr Wormald, and his manic insistence that no one will obtain illicit meat on the black market reminds me of Javert’s character in Les Misérables, albeit with a much sillier objective.

I can’t possibly write a review of Betty Blue Eyes without mentioning the eponymous star, Betty the pig. With shows such as War Horse enjoying immense popularity, it’s not surprising that the director chose to use a puppet, expertly manoeuvred by Lauren Logan (all the more impressive when you realise that she had to learn puppetry from scratch to play this part). Betty is a funny addition to the play, mastered with excellent comic timing for gales of laughter from the audience.

If you need a laugh during this rainy week, I would encourage you to visit the Oxford Playhouse and let Betty Blue Eyes cheer you up.   ★★★★☆   @BookingAround