Made in Dagenham

Made in Dagenham is based on a true, heart warming story that began in June 1968 at the Ford Factory in Dagenham, Essex. It tells the story of six women and a 20-year battle to get their pay reviewed and re-graded to be in line with that of the male workers doing a similar skilled level of work. Things come to a head and the women have had enough and simply say ‘EVERYBODY OUT’.  We follow the O’Grady family and their personal struggle to stay together against a backdrop of sexism, poverty and a class system, all of which are conspiring to ‘’grind them down’.

This was my first visit to Wigan Little Theatre and my first opportunity to see the Wigan Little Theatre Group in action and I hope it won’t be my last!

The production was well cast, well directed and musically very good, credit for this must go to Tracey Dawson (Director), Louise Steggals (Assistant Director) and Rick Kershaw (Music Director). We had some great individual performances, but the production was taken to the next level during the ‘big production numbers’ –  ‘Busy Woman’ (opening number), ‘Made in Dagenham’ (title song), ‘Everybody Out’ (Act 1 - Finale), ‘This is America’ (Opening number Act 2) and finally ‘Stand Up’ (last song) – musically great with each numbers having some cleverly devised choreography, which played to the strengths of the entire cast and it was obvious that everyone, both on stage and in the audience had enjoyed these routines and they provided us with some ‘wow moments’ – congratulations to Louise Hawkes (Choreographer) be proud!

There were many quality performances......
Hannah Ward-Jones played the lead ‘Rita O’Grady’ really well. With some great vocals, Hannah was able to take us on a journey from wife, mother and shop floor worker to an ‘unwilling leader of women’, ‘fighting the establishment’, which at times was to the detriment of her family.  Well done Hannah!  Hannah was supported really well by Neil Brogan who played the role of Eddie O’Grady, ‘Rita’s’ husband. Eddie went from ‘bread winner’ to ‘support act’ as Holly’s fame grew and he was then left trying to hold the family together.  His rendition of ‘The Letter’ was a highlight for me ... believable and poignant!  PS: let’s not forget the ‘O’Grady Kids... Graham and Sharon played by Callum Connor and Isabella Earley respectively...well done guys...job well done!

‘The Machinists/The Shop Floor Girls’ - Cass, Clare, Sandra and Beryl (Played by Vanessa Tarbuck, Lauren Brown, Catherine Gelder, and Sue Binns respectively), individually good - collectively great!  They all brought their colourful characters to life really well, but it was Lauren Brown as ‘Clare’ the, ‘not so smart’ ‘stuck for words’ character, who stood out for me!  So believable, with great comedic timing and facial expressions aplenty...well done Lauren – be proud!

Christine Armstrong was well cast and the ‘perfect fit’ for ‘Connie Riley’ our Union Representative.  She was another that took us on a journey... her rendition of ‘Connie’s Song – Same Old Story’ was another highlight. John  Dudley was well cast as ‘Monty’ (Union Steward) ... in love with ‘Connie’ but they never quite got together...his meet with Rita after Connie’s death was believable’.

I was impressed with the portrayal of Mr Hopkins (Ford Plant Manager) and Mrs Lisa Hopkins (His unhappy wife) by Niall Wilkinson and Lesley Anderson respectively as I was with Chris Roberts who played the part of Mr Tooley (Ford Executive from Texas)... his arrival and song ‘This is America’ with the chorus was a ‘show stopping’ moment for me! 

But from ‘show stopper to show stealer’... Joey Wiswell’s portrayal of ‘Prime Minister Harold Wilson’ was excellent!  ‘Stage presence aplenty’ ‘Great comedic timing’ and his ‘Dance Moves’ in his song ‘There’s Always a Problem’ with the three guys, brought the house down...be ever so proud.
There was a great chemistry between Lisa Griffiths, who was impressive at ‘Barbara Castle’ – the ‘fiery red-headed’ politician and ‘Harold’. Individually great, together, two amusing characters!

There were ‘cameo roles’ from John Clinton as ‘Sid’ (Factor Worker/Union Steward) bit of a ‘double act’ with ‘Bill’ (Factor Worker/Union Steward) played by Gary Williams. ‘Barry’ (Factor Worker) played by Jack Samson, ‘Ron Macer’ (Ford Production Manger), Gregory Hubble (Ford’s Personnel Director) played by Peter Hall and finally there was ‘Cortina Man’ (Cheesy Front Man for the launch of the  Ford Cortina) played by Rick Kershaw (Musical Director)...man of many talents!

Making up the cast were members of the ensemble: Beth Dwight, Cath Finch, Chris Bache, Lisa Rignall, Lou Steggals, Zach Hill, Lucy Bache and our ‘Cheerleaders in America’ – Ruby Farrell, Olivia Carroll, Scarlett Gowland, Josie Butler and Isabella Earley.

‘Made in Dagenham’ is a long show and not the easiest to stage...with many locations to create and many scene changes to be made, so its congrats to Peter Hall (Set Design) and his Painting and Construction Teams for a set that made best use of all the available space and worked well. The difficulty with so many scene changes is that it can slow a show down and cause issues, it is a massive congratulation to Jack Rignall and Shelia Cleary (Stage Manager) and his crew for the efficient manner in which they ‘pushed and pulled’ and dealt with everything that was thrown at them. But, if I could be so bold and I hope I don’t offend anyone, but the music that backed the changes, which when used well is a great way to make ‘blackout’s’ less ‘noticeable’, was at times a little long.  Scenes were set / actors in place, yet the music continued... it wasn’t only me, there were whispers around me asking why!

Sound and lighting were great – many congrats to the Sound and Lighting Teams. ‘Props’ were of great quality, appropriate and used well. ‘Costumes’ were superb, in keeping with the era, looked great and enhanced the production so much; congratulations to Stacey Vernon.

Congratulations to all involved on a great show.... thank you for inviting my wife and I and I look forward to hopefully meeting some of you soon and to your next production.

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