Bad Girls: The Musical - TNT

When a successful TV series transfers to the stage, the best way to guarantee bums on seats is to include as many of the original cast members as possible. But this moderately enjoyable spin-off from the long-running prison soap (penned by its creators, with music and often gutsy lyrics by Kath Gotts) lacks pulling power, despite the presence of 'Bodybag' and Nicole Faraday's lifer. The tunes are derivative though varied, but there's a melodramatic plot involving a lesbian love affair, a smug rapist screw (David Burt) and a suicide — not to mention a riot, a hunger strike and a dramatic escape. And, as feisty gangster's wife Yvonne Atkins, Sally Dexter explodes onto the stage wearing tightly-belted red leather and with an attention-grabbing presence which makes audience, officers and inmates alike sit up and take notice.
Garrick, Charing Cross Rd, WC2 (0870-890 1104). Until March 1