Swing, but it don't mean a thing

There is not that much more to Alan Plater's Blonde Bombshells of 1943 than an all-girl band singing, swinging and playing their way through a repertoire of Second World War favourites that bolstered morale.

Despite the versatility of attractive performers, who not only act but confidently play a variety of instruments, including the ukulele, double bass, trumpet and piano, I was never roused to anything much more than mild amusement at Plater's effortful repartee and spasms of nostalgia.

Instead of a narrative to suggest how the auditioning, unprofessional girls emerged as confident Bombshell performers in blonde wigs, Plater lazily abandons attempts to dramatise the young women's experience.

The second half simply consists of the girls, dressed in scarlet gowns, giving a concert-in some north-eastern theatre and belting out numbers from the age of "If I had a Ribbon Bow". Mark Babych's production, premiered at Bolton's Octagon theatre, went with a swing at the preview I attended, but swinging is not enough.

Plater's entertainment originated as a BBC film in 1989 with Judi Dench leading an exceptional cast, including such strong personalities as Cleo Laine and Billie Whitelaw. In its present, rewritten form Plater's Bombshells are underdeveloped types rather than characters, the action viewed through the perspective of an 18-year-old auditioning for the band and whose unbelievable innocence rivals that of a juvenile nun with a ukulele who offers several George Formby moments. Rosie Jenkins's Miranda sports a cut-glass accent that rings about as inauthentic as her personality, while a war-shy drummer (Chris Grahamson) forced to dress as a girl to join the band inspires some laboured business and anachronistic homophobia.

Until 12 August. Information: 7722 9301.

Blonde Bombshells Of 1943