Made In Dagenham

This was a fabulous show – full of energy, enthusiasm and real empathy for the characters and the story line.  Director, Brian Dougherty and his production team pulled off a great interpretation of this popular musical which follows the story of the women from Ford Dagenham who in 1968 went on strike.  Dougherty had pulled together a very strong cast with Trudi Jackson playing Rita O’Grady – a demanding part which she carried off beautifully and Phil Green as Eddie O’Grady. Greens vocals in “I Can’t Take This Anymore” were very moving and together with their children they were a very believable family unit.  Jack French and Eva Chapman performed very well as the O’Grady children, Graham and Sharon.  Les Smith, Regional Councillor, saw Charlie Clayton and Scarlett Bellamy take these parts and confirmed that they were also very good.

It was a strong cast and the factory girls were great.  Lindsay Coy as Beryl was superb – her comic timing was hilarious and she played this part to great effect – a very strong portrayal.   Likewise Eleanor Pepper playing Sandra is a versatile young actress and was excellent in this role.  Strong and very funny performances from Jo Hageman as Clare and Lisa Smith as Cass along with Chris Curtis as Sid, Rod Wheat as Hopkins and Debbie Shepherd as his long-suffering wife, Lisa.  Well done to young performer Kyai Calver taking the roles of both Barry and the Cortina Man – a real asset to the Society.  Drew Jackson as Mr Tooley delivered some of the shows funniest lines and played this arrogant American with style.

I loved the pairing of Jacky Bacon as Connie and John Parsons as Monty – this was excellent casting.  Both actors were able to pull a huge amount from these characters and took the audience with them on their journey with a very sad ending.  Similarly the roles of Harold Wilson and Barbara Castle (Dave Philips and Bev Evans) were well cast and these two performers engaged the audience with their hilarious lib and strong singing of brilliant songs which were obviously very well-rehearsed as the timing was excellent – we were still laughing about Wilson going into the cupboard and Castle’s reaction on the way home (and we’ve seen the show four times before!). 

It was a very strong and confident ensemble and MD Liam Fletcher had worked them hard to give such depth to the performances of the brilliant production numbers.  The choreography was very innovative and suited this production.  It was a great fit for the varied abilities of the chorus and super use of the dancers emphasised the talent on stage – well done Sophie Haigh and Becky Evans.

The costumes were effective and the scenery and props were perfect for the show with good lighting and sound to keep this production very sharp.  The use of the car parts being assembled during the factory scene and the Cortina in the show room were particularly notable.  Well done to the members of WeDoItInTheDark.com who ensured swift changing of the scenes, fully visible to the audience, but without getting in the way of the performers.

This is a funny show, but the important messages were clearly delivered by this talented group and we were in no doubt that the fight for equal pay and domestic equality were, and are, important messages to take away.  I also felt that the cast were having a great time with this production and the fact that they enjoyed being on stage with each other came across.

Congratulations to everyone involved – a really great show.

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