Made in Dagenham

Made in Dagenham is a historical acknowledgement of issues which ultimately led to the Equal Pay Act of 1970, coming into force in 1975.

 Despite performing the specialized task of sewing upholstery for car seats, women were classified as unskilled labour and paid much less than men. Encouraged by a sympathetic union representative, the women’s grievances are notified to Ford. The meeting goes badly and, outraged by the company's lack of respect for them, Rita O’Grady leads her colleagues to strike.

Stephanie Fisher in her portrayal of ‘Rita O’Grady’ gave an outstanding performance reflecting how life had changed from home, housewife and mother to feisty spokesperson fighting for equal pay. Both characterization and musicality were well controlled and the ability to pace emotional restraint showed maturity and experience. Well done.

Alex Budd as her husband “Eddie O’Grady’ was equally strong and the chemistry between them in tenderness and battle was a powerful one.

The first of a number of swift and major scene changes then introduced us to a Factory environment and the men’s chorus dressed in regulation boiler suits singing ‘Made in Dagenham’. This was quickly followed by a change to the sewing room and a very strong line-up for the girls who were at the heart of this historic event.  An appealing musical score & orchestra contained some major harmony pieces. “This is What We Want”” featured bold brassy women none more so than ‘Beryl’ (Angie Frost). Here we witnessed a master class in how not to make every thing said sound offensive but just the way it was, take it or leave it.  

‘Sandra’ (Cera-Rose Pickering), ‘Cass’ (Nicole Taylor) and with precise timing and in comedy mood ‘Clare’ (Andrea Pollington), performed with the women “Wosname” which was excellent.

In depth and emotion ‘Connie’ (Sarah Randall) gave a most convincing and emotional performance as the union representative character, losing her battle with cancer. ‘Lisa Hopkins’ (Katy Bovaird) was every bit the upper class wife of Ford’s UK boss in befriending the girls with sympathy for their plight but in dress and manner despite life poles apart.

In style and performance the men on the factory floor each had their own individual characters that were defined by gestures, vocal inflection and general mannerisms.

 ‘Harold Wilson’ (Graham Sawtell) in character Yorkshire accent, complete with pipe and raincoat was convincing, as were his aides in the bowler hats song and dance routine – “Always a Problem”. As ‘Mr Hopkins’ Graham Duncan played the character to perfection. A well matched set of aides. 

Based on the white paper In “Place of Strife” the equal pay act was promoted and driven through by ‘ Barbara Castle’ very capably played by Katrina Ayres as the no nonsense down to earth Secretary of State for employment. Here again we had the pleasure of witnessing an experienced actress demonstrating just what she is capable of producing in this character role. The scene in the House of Commons when she failed to secure agreement for a 92% towards equal pay was very well played indeed.

Ford of course is an American company and ‘Mr Tooley’ (Daniel Goode) along with the ensemble in “This is America” presented a great opening to the second act. There was great humour, powerful singing with pace and energy in the well-choreographed routines and raw emotion demonstrated by Dan Thomas as ‘Monty’ in his wonderful tribute to Connie. In “The Letter” also, ‘Eddie’ Alex Budd, produced a superb vocal performance.

The orchestra, under the baton of Keith Willis were a little on the loud side and at times some of the vocals were lost but altogether there was a lively enthusiasm and buzz coming from the pit that was infectious and enjoyable.

The split set worked well, giving maximum floor space for the main company to move around. The props and scenery made everything real and believable and it was evident that a lot of hard work had been done when researching authentic props, costumes and accessories. A number of the audience will have remembered the 1960’s -1970’s and it had to be right. Congratulations to Malcolm Budd and Elaine Miller and their respective teams.

Lighting was appropriate and the sound generally good, though there were a couple of occasions when batteries needed checking on backpacks.

Choreography was lively and enjoyable to watch but remember not everyone is a dancer and combinations of steps often need to be modified and simplified so that the illusion is one of uniformity not “don’t worry if you can’t get it right, no one will notice.” Yes they will.

Again this was a good choice for HD&OS. The cast showed enthusiasm and the mixture of young and old faces was a pleasure to watch.

I had a great evening and thank you once again for your hospitality.

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