Biceps

I really enjoyed a recent visit to see PYJAMA GAME at the Shaftesbury Theatre but it left me with a question. The director, designer, costume designer and musical director have done everything they can to evoke the 1950’s in which the show is set – the hair is just right – the shoes spot on – the whole ambience perfectly 1950’s. But their work is strangely dented by the broad shoulders and pumped biceps of some of the female cast. Whether male or female, a muscular physique is a marvel to behold, but in this case it completely undermines the effort to take us into the period. Why is something so obvious, so obviously ignored, when there has been such rigorous attention to every other aspect of the era? I wonder why actors aren’t more sympathetic to the play they are in and why the creative team seem oblivious to this outstanding issue?