The Pendle Hippodrome Theatre Company, based at their own theatre in Colne, Lancashire, took the bull by the horns this evening and swapped the windy hills of Witch-country for the East London town of Dagenham, transporting us back to the year of this reviewer's birth, and the Ford company sewing machinists' strike.
Despite a couple of slightly dodgy accents, this transition was done with aplomb. Costuming, hairstyles (mostly), and set all created that era that some of us still tend to see through rose-tinted spectacles. Watching 'Made In Dagenham' will remind them (if they are old enough), that their idealistic vision is most definitely wrong. It was a hard time to be alive, and this musical doesn't shy away from many of the 'issues' of that society; nay, it practically wallows in them, highlighting not only the inequality of women (an ongoing issue), but also corporal punishment in schools, sexism, the class divide, trade unions, women in government, etc etc. the list is endless.
The language used in the musical too, is also atypical of the genre but is almost a verbatim piece inasmuch as the shop-flor banter could easily have been taken from an actual recording of chit-chat at the time. To say that it is 'fruity' is an understatement, and the show includes a lot of swearing and vulgarity. This is all apt, and the show would be weaker for trying to 'gentrify' it.
The PHTC showed great skill in bringing this story to life, and heading a very strong cast is Jessica Sanderson in the lead role of Rita. Her talents totally lost as a flight attendant (her actual job!), and with such a powerful and sonorous voice, and pleasing stage presence, I look forward to seeing her on stage in whatever her next role happens to be. Aiding and abetting her this evening were a whole ensemble of machinists, whose cumulative choral sound was delightful, and provided some lovely harmonies; and these ladies included cameos and smaller principal roles, most notably, Connie (Vicky Riley), Sandra (Liz Rowell), Cass (Laura Schofield), Clare (Cathryn Osbourne), and Beryl (Angela Boult), all finding their own individual characters and working well within the ensemble.
Eddie, Rita's husband and worker on the assembly line, was given gravitas and sincerity by David Smith; and again, was supported by several smaller male roles which included Tooley (Matt Whatley), Monty (Jason Morris), and Cortina Man (Karl Pilkington). The upper-classes were represented by Jeremy and Lisa Hopkins (Stevan Manley and Vicky Goldsworthy respectively), whilst fun was to be had (tongue firmly in cheek) with the comical lampooning of two real-life politicians, Barbara Castle, performed by Gillian Mason, was not too far away from a look-and-sound-alike, whilst Richard Sanderson as Harold Wilson gave our ex-Prime Minister a more Pythonesque twist with obvious comedic glee.
Finally, one must also mention the two O'Grady children. A young boy and girl who appear in a few scenes in between an ever-growing chasm between Rita and Eddie as they argue and grow further apart, only to be brought back together again at the end (well, this IS a Musical afterall...!). Credit then to youngsters James Newton and Heidi Grimshaw.
An onstage band (centre stage rear) started too loud and the first few bars were deafening. Thankfully, our sound technician was on the ball, and the rest of the show was loud, but not deafeningly so. Musically the show was in safe hands under the direction of Lisa Manley, with solid and sensible direction form Daniel Mason, with excellent use of space and levels, and some imaginative and interesting choreography from Karen Shaw.
A most enjoyable musical, and I look forward to the opportunity of watching this society in September when they tackle the family musical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 24.3.23
on - 24.3.23
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