Made in Dagenham

Made in Dagenham the musical is based on the 2010 film, which in turn is centred around the true-life events of the Ford strike of 1968 where the women sewing machinists demanded equal pay for equal work, and whose actions led to the creation of the Equal Pay Act 1970.

Having recently played the roles of Sid and Chubby Chuff in another production of Made in Dagenham, and worked with Dave Dallard as MD in several productions with The Cast,  I was excited to see how EMS were going to approach the show and I was not disappointed. The strength of the writing, and the enthusiasm and energy provided the whole cast an ensemble made this one of the best productions I have seen from EMS.

At the heart of MID is the central role of Rita O’Grady and her relationships both with the machinists at the Ford factory and her husband Eddie and family at home.  Rebecca Charnley both in her acting and vocal performance provided this central core and the show’s overall success was in no small part due to Rebecca’s energy and range of emotion. The ‘girls’ played by Maria Lawrence as Connie, potty mouthed Beryl - Laurie Trott,  Lydia Page, Emily Oaken and Clare Kay as Sandra, Clare and Cass all delivered very believable characters with just the right level of sass!   

The male leads are, to some extent, written as subordinate characters to the female cast.  Although they may have the power they are clearly no match for the ‘busy women’ and Richard Comfort, Richard Dawson and Ross Lowe and the male chorus delivered exactly the right supporting performances.

Simon Parker delivered a strong Eddie O’Grady throughout the performance culminating in ‘The Letter’ which never fails to bring tears to many of the audience.  Keith Butcher was in fine form as Harold Wilson and managed to bring the comedy to the role without going too over the top.

Louise O’Boyle delivered one of the most convincing Lisa Hopkins I have seen in all the MID productions I have reviewed.  Louise brought out the frustration of being thought of as a prop to her husband in spite of her qualifications, and her generosity and mentoring of Rita throughout the strike to perfection.  

The Ford and Union Management were very well portrayed by James Bowden, Gary Lever, Andy Honman and Alex Gross and Barbara Castle was brought to life with a great characterisation by Fiona Wright.  

The choreography from Alex was strong throughout the production and very appropriate for both the period and talents of the cast.  The attention to detail that Dave had worked on during the rehearsal period was very much in evidence with strong vocals and great balance between band and stage  throughout the production.  The costumes props and lighting all contributed to the performance.

A very enjoyable production of a very strong musical – congratulations to one and all.

 

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