This production of Sammy Fain’s lighthearted classic by Watermill Theatre Productions is a dictinctly minimalist take on the original. On the one hand this is highly impressive as it always is when actors double as instrumentalists, and the whole cast do a good job as accompanying orchestra. Multi-talented they certainly are. However, the down side is the suspension of reality that has the inhabitants of the Deadwood wandering around ‘The Golden Garter’ with a flute under their arm or a cello strapped to their chest.

This is an approach that has been shown to work well in some shows – here it just comes across as a cost -cutting measure.

To some extent one became used to it though there were times when one wished for the lush instrumentation of the original rather than this sparse- sounding score. This also goes for the underpowered chorus numbers such as ‘Deadwood Stage’ and ‘Windy City.’

Changes to the original music was most marked in ‘Higher than a Hawk’ in which Wild Bill Hickok accompanied himself on guitar – at this point I wondered whether I had inadvertently wandered into a jazz club.

Jodie Prenger starred as the eponymous buckskin clad Calamity Jane but lacked the necessary larger-than-life quality and does not dominate the stage sufficiently. Tom Lister is a smooth, sneering Hickok who lacks chemistry with his leading lady. The parts of Katie Brown (Phoebe Street) and Francis Fryer (Rob Delaney) are more impressive.