STAGE: Diamond – a girl’s best friend

Dave Lynn stars in the new musical drama Diamond

This week Anscombe Production Associates present the Brighton premiere of a new musical drama, Diamond, at The Dome Studio Theatre.
Diamond is the true story of Harry Young who, at the tender age of 14, decided to dress solely as a woman – the birth of Diamond Lil. Wandering the streets of Bethnal Green in heels, frock and make-up, she became one of the East End’s most memorable and much loved characters – the heartbeat of the community!

The show is set during World War II around the East End and tells us the story of Lil, her tempestuous relationship with partner Maisie, and the colourful characters in her community that gravitate to The Royal Oak Pub on Columbia Road.

Nationally renowned drag artist Dave Lynn stars as Lil, alongside an impressive ensemble cast including Stephen Richards (Lola Lasagne) who, since his knock out performance in Boys In The Band, throws off his drag attire for the second time in his career, to perform ‘straight’ as Lil’s brother Bill – something to be seen!

Written by esteemed Linda Wilkinson, Diamond is inspired by her book Watercress But No Sandwiches: 300 Years Of The Columbia Road Area, telling the moving stories of the old Eastenders, whose memories through their families go back almost 200 years. The book won the prestigious Raymond Williams prize and has already been a BBC Radio 4 play; before first being performed as a play with music at the Kings Head Theatre, Islington, garnering four stars from Nicholas de Jongh.

Linda Wilkinson grew up in Bethnal Green and as a child knew Lil: “As a child growing up, Lil was this glamorous figure who raised spirits and kept everyone smiling, she enlivened our lives and we thought he really was a she. I have pieced together her life from interviews with people who knew her, from her partner Maisie’s living relatives and my own recollections.

The most astounding thing is the way that she was totally accepted within her community and was a central pillar in the dark days of war. This is a real slice of life about Columbia Road during WWII – to this day people still talk about Diamond Lil.”

“Diamond is about the people who lived in Bethnal Green and the East End and formed a community quite like no other. All the characters in the play are real and as such the play keeps growing organically as stories come to light. For example, Maisie’s family came to see the show at the King’s Head, unbeknown to me.

After the end of the run my partner got a new job and her facilities manager is a Bethnal Green boy, so she gave him a copy of the book I wrote which started this whole thing off. A few minutes later he came over to her. Not only had he known about the play but he is Maisie’s nephew! That’s how I came to discover what really happened to Maisie and so I just had to put it in the show.

“Most of the action of the play takes place in The Royal Oak Pub – it was the centre of the community, the main meeting place. A place for fun, laughter and solidarity, a friend could always be found here. The pub is still open for business today!
“Lil, in particular, was so notable in the area, she was a constant presence on Columbia Road a beacon of the community. My grandmother Bella used to sing with Lil and she reckoned that Lil pretty much kept everybody going throughout the war.

“My mum recalled that on VE day, Lil was the only one wearing nylons as she had kept a pair specially for the end of the war. Lil was the only person, apparently, who could draw a straight line on women’s legs which mimicked the seam at the back of the stockings of the day. People would queue up for her to do this.”

With music by the reputed musical scholar Robert Orledge, this version of the story is a delicious, bawdy, at times tragic, romp – full of fun, poignancy and drama with toe-tapping tunes, show stopping numbers (including Lil’s signature tune ‘I Want A Boy’) and dancing to boot!

Diamond, Dome Studio Theatre, Sunday 9 June, £17.50/£15 (special first night price of just £12.50 Monday 3 June). 01273 709709, www.brightondome.org