Amanda Whittington's Ladies Unleashed opens at Hull Truck Theatre as part of 50th anniversary celebrations

It’s rarely true, of course. Funny nights I’ve had, sure, but riotous? I reckon the closest I’ve come to that opening sentence being an accurate description would either be the dinner scene at the National Theatre’s press night for One Man, Two Guvnors or perhaps 2005, Hull Truck and the first night of Amanda Whittington’s Ladies Day.

There was an undeniable magic about the old Spring Street home of Hull Truck; the low ceiling, the fact that it was in the most backstreet looking backstreet in which you might ever find a theatre. It all combined with Whittington’s irresistible writing to create a sort of hysteria in audiences for Ladies Day, a play about four women from a fish factory in Hull who head to Royal Ascot for the day.

“I wrote it to coincide with Royal Ascot coming to York in 2005. I never imagined it would have such a long life; the original production toured the UK and has been regularly revived by different companies. Barely a week goes by without a production being licenced somewhere in the UK. People have taken the characters to their hearts,” says Whittington.

Ladies Day was such a monster hit that a sequel was inevitable. Ladies Down Under followed two years later. Which brings us to today. Whittington has returned to the much loved characters for what is expected to be the final instalment of a trilogy following the fish filleters from the factory in Hull who, spoiler alert, struck it big at the races.

“I’d thought a lot about a trilogy over the years, but when the opportunity came to bring the ladies back to Hull Truck, it felt like the right time and place. I was curious to know who they’d become in the 17 years since we met,” says Whittington.

Ladies Unleashed, the final part of the trilogy, opens this week as part of Hull Truck’s 50th anniversary. The venue is a lot more swish than the previous two outings for the ladies of Ladies Day, Hull Truck having moved into its swanky city centre home a decade ago, but you wouldn’t bet against similar scenes of hilarity as the foursome return.

“I set out to write a recognisable yet surprising show about four friends who are growing older, know each other inside out, but still have secrets up their sleeves,” says Whittington.

For this final instalment, Whittington has taken her foursome North from Hull to Lindisfarne. Pearl, Jan, Linda and Shelley head to the Holy Island for a peaceful retreat and a reunion, but the reunion turns into something more resembling, well, a riot.

“You don’t need to know Ladies Day, it’s a stand-alone play with its own present day story. If the characters are new to audiences, I hope what they will recognise is a group of friends and workmates who could be their own. If audience members do already know the ladies, they’ll see who and where they are now, in 2022. Their lives and relationships maybe have changed, but some things stay stubbornly the same.”

That, perhaps, is the secret to the success of Whittington’s trilogy.

“I still have great friends from my school days and working life, although most of us are scattered across different parts of the country now – and the world – yet when we come together, even after years apart, we pick up as if it were yesterday.

“That’s very much reflected in the play. Growing up, my mum worked in an office with a group of women who are friends to this day. The stories she’d come home with were our very own long-running drama and I loved it.”

Having started the 50th anniversary celebrations with a play from local boy Richard Bean, it seems right that such a popular show from Hull Truck’s history is part of this year’s celebrations.

Whittington says: “I’m very proud to have Ladies Unleashed as part of the anniversary celebrations of this great company. The play wouldn’t exist without Hull Truck.

“Ladies Day was first staged at the legendary Spring Street and strongly influenced by John Godber’s pioneering work there. All three of the Ladies plays speak directly to and about the Hull women who’ve been a mainstay of Truck’s audience for those 50 years. Bringing their voices into the present day has been a real honour.”

Ladies Unleashed is at Hull Truck Theatre until October 22.