Play-reading - Daisy Pulls it Off by Denise Deegan

Daisy Pulls It Off is a 1982 comedy play that a parodies the genre of wholesome adventure stories about life in a 1920s girls' English boarding school, such as those stories by Enid Blyton or Angela Brazil. It was an unlikely success in London in the early 1980s, and is frequently revived, the most recent taking place in 2008. The play is extremely popular with amateur drama groups, as it is very economical to stage. Meredith, scholarship winner to prestigious Grangewood from a very ordinary family to the exclusive Grangewood School for Young Ladies, and her best friend, zany Trixie Martin, search for the missing treasure that could save the fortunes of the financially challenged school now threatened with closure. 

However, the  most privileged students at the school are determined to make Daisy look bad in the eyes of the school authorities. so she encounters snobbish prejudice and schoolgirl pranks from these mean-spirited classmates. Along the way, Daisy overcomes false accusations, saves the lives of her enemies, and discovers that the mysterious stranger seen around the grounds is someone close to her. However, Daisy makes friends with the head girl, Clare, and finds out that her family, who were very rich, have lost the family treasure. It is hidden somewhere in the school. Daisy manages to save the day, even when threatened with expulsion. When a midnight expedition with a group of girls goes wrong. Maude is left hanging on to a clifftop for dear life, when Daisy saves her.Similar to the unrelated series of St Trinian's films, the schoolgirls in professional productions are often played by older actresses, and the headmistress is frequently played by a man as in comic conventions. Daisy Pulls it Off is an early example of the popular ironic spoof genre of which there have been been many recent examples, including the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. That said, it is an affectionate parody of a now outdated genre of schoolgirl drama.

All are welcome.

Facilitator: Mike Ingham (Lingnan University)