The Drifters Girl – Bord Gais Energy Theatre – Review
by Fran Winston

Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Grand Canal Square Docklands Dublin 2.
Runs until January 3. Shows 7.30pm nightly. Matinee 2.30pm Saturday 3.
Tickets from €40

A quick glance at The Drifters’ Wikipedia page lists 68 members that have come and gone over the years. Sixty-Eight! While I would be familiar with a lot of their music – who doesn’t know songs like Saturday Night At The Movies or Save The Last Dance For Me – I knew very little of their history going into this show. I think that helped with the experience as my ignorance of their story meant I had many WTF moments as it was all a surprise.

This show was nominated for Best New Musical at the 2022 Olivier Awards, and it is easy to see why. A mere six actors manage to take on the multiple roles required to tell the story of the band and their remarkable manager Faye Treadwell.

I had no idea how many line-up changes the Drifters had until this show but it is handled very well here and the fact that it is the same core actors telling the story helps make it less discombobulating.

The band had all the highs and lows, along with the sex, drugs and rock and roll you expect of musicians. However, alongside that, they were also dealing with horrific racism and manager Faye was constantly assaulted by sexism.

The band’s songs are used wonderfully here – so much so that I had to check if they had written additional music for it (they hadn’t). New arrangements of tracks such as Stand By Me ensure that they sound bang up to date while retaining the magic that made them hits in the first place.

I didn’t actually realise exactly how many hits they had. Given that they were actively releasing music for 25 years (although they released their first single in over 30 years as recently as 2013) it isn’t surprising when you think about it. However, it is still astonishing to realise just how successful they were. I guess unless you lived through those eras you don’t fully appreciate it.

The songs, coupled with the extraordinary true story make for a mesmerising production. Throw in some amazing performances and you have a show that ticks all the boxes.

Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking but this really did give me the warm and fuzzies. There are some heartbreaking moments, some joyous moments and a LOT of girl power moments. My guest for the night was coming from a similar place as me and was aware of the songs but not the history and thoroughly enjoyed the show.

This is a fabulous retrospective of a band you probably didn’t realise you needed to know more about and the woman that fuelled them. Expect to spend a lot of time googling incidents from the show afterwards. You will never look at The Drifters in the same way again. A fabulous production that will have you on your feet dancing before taking a deep dive into the music when you go home.