Made in Dagenham

On 7th June 1968 women sewing machinists who made seat covers at Ford Motor Company in Dagenham, walked out in protest at being re-classified as unskilled workers and being paid less than men on the same grade. The women took their case to Parliament and with the support of Barbara Castle, their spokesperson Rita O’Grady spoke at the Trade Union Conference. Her actions and those of her women supporters were influential in bringing about the Equal Pay Act of 1970.

Fast forward fifty years to the day and here we were watching the story of these gutsy women as told by this talented cast from Centre Stage Company. There were many good performances in this production but of the main characters Sian Cripps was superb as Rita O’Grady who defied management and put her marriage at risk by standing up for women’s rights.  A powerful performance throughout, especially the emotional and inspiring speech at the Trade Union Conference.

A very good performance by Tony Trott as Rita’s husband Eddie, struggling to keep things going at home. He really captured his character’s feelings in his solo “The Letter”.  Very well done.

There were good lively performances from all the supporting Dagenham girls. Gemma Harrison as Beryl, trying unsuccessfully to control her language and Chris Hart as Connie who didn’t live to see Rita make her ground breaking speech. Emma Letcher as Sandra, Sue Donaldson as Clare and Denise Harriss as Cass were all well cast.

Candice Danleigh was very convincing as Barbara Castle and Andy Letcher really captured Harold Wilson, complete with all the mannerisms, ‘Gannex’ raincoat and pipe.  A great over the top performance from Steve Murray, as Mr Tooley, telling the British workers, in no uncertain terms that “This is America”.

Good performances also from Mark Ager as Shop Steward, Monty and from Lorraine Mason as Factory Manager’s wife Lisa, showing support for the girls. 

This is a show about real people and serious issues but lightened by some very funny moments, one of the best being the dance of the three Aides. Hilarious!

The cast under the direction of a strong creative team and with excellent musical accompaniment, really brought this compelling piece of recent history to life. The costumes were of the period although the society chose to break away from the blue boiler suits associated with Fords and went for red.  I assume there’s no hard and fast rule about this and it seemed to work OK.

Projected scenery was an excellent way of enhancing the production. I particularly liked the Conference Centre scene which was very well done.

Props were moved swiftly on and off stage ensuring the pace never slowed. Lighting and sound effects were good.  There was a problem with one mic making a hissing sound but this was eventually corrected.

Well done to all involved and thank you for inviting me.

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