Despite being one of the world’s first all-female rock groups, electrifying concerts in the UK, Europe and the world during the 1960s, the Liverbirds and their legacy have been dwarfed by that of fellow Liverpool band the Beatles. Ian Salmon musical Girls Don’t Play Guitars attempts to make their case.
A guitar outline encircles centre stage, lassoing the girls – tearaway Val (Molly-Grace Cutler), maternal Pam (Lisa Wright), timid Mary (Alice McKenna) and earnest Sylvia (Sarah Workman) – in musical limits they struggle to break out of. It’s also true of the show, directed by Bob Eaton: rarely does it step away from the music. The Liverbirds’ formation is soon dispensed with – “And that’s how we met!” – while the sexism they overcame is a mere footnote. Obstacles are awkwardly glossed over: encounters with Jimmy Savile and Gary Glitter are euphemised as “close shaves with weirdos”. Without tension and jeopardy, the Liverbirds’ hard-won big breaks become a series of easy opportunities.
The songs sometimes feel slapdash. There’s little sense of the band maturing, or of an apex hit; they’re accomplished from the start. Nor do we see the cast graduate to the level of stardom where they burn up the stage. When the dream dies, there’s no feeling of them stepping back from the brink of stratospheric fame.
That’s caught instead by Mark Walters’s set, with its towers of amps and speakers that appear both surging skyward and beginning to topple. At first, the Liverbirds are literally upstaged by men, sneering at them from a platform.
Girls Don’t Play Guitars works best as a spirited tribute band concert. The four central performers find perfect harmonies while each carving their own distinct personality. Its most touching moment sees Pam clutching her guitar as if it’s a substitute for the boyfriend she’s left behind at home. And the song count cleverly reduces as the band begins to fade. As far as convincing us that we couldn’t have lived without the Liverbirds goes, the show makes only some of the right noises.
• Girls Don’t Play Guitars is at Royal Court, Liverpool, until 26 October
