Made in Dagenham

Report by David Slater - NODA D3

˜Made in Dagenham" tells the musical tale of the strike at the Ford Motors plant in Dagenham in 1968; industrial action which led indirectly to the Equal Pay Act of 1970 (the Act eventually reaching the statute books in 1975). The musical fleshes out what could have been a dry and dusty look at industrial relations by including some typically ˜musical theatre" friendly goings-on - a spot of domestic strife; comical supporting characters; a spot of light jeopardy here and there - and with music by David Arnold and lyrics by Richard Thomas (two very impressive names to conjure with) promised to be a smarter than average piece of musical entertainment. Given that the Hippodrome Theatre Company always put 100% into every stage offering, hopes were high for a jolly evening out. Given the prevalence of strikes in the country at the moment, it also seemed a timely choice!

Firstly, a word or two of praise for the director, Daniel Mason, in his first outing at the helm for an adult society. Given the complexities of the staging - the numerous scene changes and complicated blocking the show requires - Daniel did a first rate job. He had obviously worked extremely hard and put a huge amount of time and effort into making sure the show ran smoothly and slickly - no mean achievement. Well done Daniel.

The story focuses on Rita O'Grady, machinist in the sewing pool and put-upon working mother, who leads the ladies of Dagenham to fight for equal opportunities and fair pay. The impact this has both upon her home life, husband and children and her relationship with her co-workers, provides the beating heart of the show. Jessica Sanderson did a marvellous job as Rita: a thoughtful and powerful performance which provided a strong centre for the show. Jessica has a great voice, stage presence and also has the acting ability to really bring a character to life. Her transition from ˜Busy Mother" as the show begins, to champion of the workers exhorting the audience to ˜Stand Up" and be counted at the end of the show, was very well realised.

In a show where the focus should naturally be on the female members of the cast, Jessica was ably aided and abetted by a strong supporting cast from her fellow sewing machinists in the Ford factory. Vicky Royle was superb as Connie, the beleaguered Union convenor whose tragic arc was very well realised, passing on the baton of equality to Rita. "Connie's Song" was the standout solo number of the evening for me: Vicky's clear, crisp vocals being perfectly attuned to get across the emotion and sentiment contained in the song. Both Connie's story and the overall theme of the show was perfectly expressed in this number and Vicky nailed it.

Foul-mouthed Beryl was brought to life in sparkling fashion by Angela Boult - although why all the authentically fruity language one would expect on a 1968 shop floor had to come from one character was a little perplexing (but that’s a fault of the book rather than this production) - who was as strong presence on stage as ever. Cathryn Osbourne made a comical character out of the ditzy Clare, Liz Rowell made for an engagingly breezy Sandra and the always eye-catching Laura Schofield brought life to Cass. All the ladies worked really well together and developed a real team spirit which was both intrinsic to the plot and made for an excellent atmosphere on stage. There is a certainly quite a lot of ‘effing’ - and dare I say - ‘jeffing’ in the show which the whole cast dealt with very well. Integral to the piece, the ripe language on display wasn’t fussed over unduly, nor treated as something ‘right-on’ or cheeky. Polluting the air with expletives is obviously a more acceptable way to conjure up a factory setting in 1968 than having the cast puff their way through several lungfuls of Player’s No.6, more’s the pity. (Note to directors: more on-stage smoking please!)
 
Gillian Mason made a lovely job of Barbara Castle. She deftly danced along the fine line between broad satire and showing her (real life) character’s sincere interest in this industrial dispute in particular and sexual equality in general. ‘Ideal World’ was very nearly another musical highlight but more on this later...
In the show’s other nod to a politician of the day, Harold Wilson’s famous pipe and overcoat were thawed out of cold storage and in a miracle of modern stagecraft, managed to give an uncannily pitch-perfect impersonation of Richard Sanderson. 

Eddie O’Grady, Rita’s other half who also works at the Ford plant, was very well portrayed by David Smith, excelling with his performance of ‘The Letter’. An interesting husband and wife dynamic is presented to the audience in this show and David and Jessica brought the couple to life with real feeling. A special mention must also be made to their children, played brilliantly by the young James Newton and Heidi Grimshaw: two excellent performances and not a trace of that hideous modern blight of ‘stage school smarminess’ in sight! Well done.

Jason Morris gave his usual turn as an ‘out of his depth’ shop steward type but threw himself into proceedings nevertheless. Newcomer to the Hippodrome stage, Jack Hargreaves gave a very confident performance as Bill - I expect we’ll be seeing much more from this talented chap in future - and the ever reliable Karl Pilkington made for an engaging Sid, also doubling up as Cortina Man in Act Two, extolling the virtues of the Cortina Mk 2 in song. Again, this could have been a standout number but again dear reader, I’ll say more on this topic later...

Stevan Manley - surely the hardest working man in showbiz - threw himself into the early chorus routines, as well as playing Mr Hopkins, chief figure of ‘the management’ at the Ford plant. The show is remarkably even-handed in showing that there are problems to be had at a personal level for everyone involved in the dispute and Stevan made his character a sympathetic figure rather than a cardboard cut-out bad guy, which is just how it should be. Problems arose for me when the subject of corporal punishment (as a unifying problem for both the working class O’Grady and middle class Hopkins families) was shoehorned in. Unfortunately, it resulted in giving Vicky Goldsworthy as Mrs Hopkins little more to do than spout some very 21st century platitudes about the topic, as if fronting a public information film. Again, no fault of the production but it did mean that the role of Mrs Hopkins was little more than a cipher to address an ‘issue’ - and an obvious and rather ham fisted attempt at suggesting female solidarity across the class boundaries. 

Matt Whatley’s performance as Tooley, the cynical no-nonsense American businessman, was the highlight of the show for me. ‘This is America’ is packed with witty lyrics and is a clever double edged sword of a song which Matt delivered perfectly. He successfully brought this outrageous character to life with real zest and made every scene his own. Great work. 

While on the topic of Tooley’s stand-out song, it’s time to address the problematic issue which cast a shadow over the production for me. Numbers which had all the necessary potential to be showstoppers fell that little bit short because the lyrics were indistinct. I found myself mainly having to assume or guess at the intention of chorus numbers through the movement and the attitude of the performers, rather than what was actually being sung. Was it a case of the band taking precedence sound-wise over the vocalists? Was it a case of diction and enunciation being at fault or the odd fumbled lyric here and there? ‘Ideal World’ was scuppered for me because the clever lyrics didn’t come across - clearly no fault of Gillian Mason who was giving it her all. ‘Cortina!’ was one step away from being a world-beating production number but for the fact that I couldn’t pick any of the words out of a song which is lyrically very clever and musically, a wonderful pastiche of late ‘60s kitsch. 
On the other hand, Vicky Royle imbued her solo with heart and feeling; Matt Whatley wrung every bit of humour out his Act Two opener. I’m not sure what the problem was but something went wrong somewhere sound-wise...

Which isn’t to pick fault with Lisa Manley’s band which was crisp, smart and sounded lovely - just right for summoning up the era in sound. Musically, the show sounded great - it was unfortunate that some of the words got lost along the way. Chorus numbers were sumptuous but it was a case of picking the bones out of the lovely noise to try to piece together the intentions expressed in lyrics I couldn't make out. Richard Thomas is a very clever musician and lyricist - it would have been nice to have had the full experience of his clever wordplay rather than straining to pick out half of it. There was also an outbreak of the Dick Van Dyke school of strangulated accents on the evening I attended but I won’t name the chief culprits here!

Costumes were well judged across the board (the odd sighting of an anachronistic suit, shirt, tie or skirt here and there was more than acceptable) and the ‘Cortina!’ girls looked stunning and fantastically ‘period’ in their brilliant routine in front of the car bonnet! The chaps looked good in their Ford overalls and the girls successfully suggested a taste of the ‘60s with their outfits. 
I wasn’t sure why the on-stage band were plonked in front of what looked like a barn door but otherwise, the staging was impeccable. Clean, no nonsense scene changes kept the show flowing and looked good. The TUC conference in Act 2 was a great piece of theatre, effectively suggesting a grand venue with the simplest of means and the ladies’ sewing machines were swiftly moved on and off with precision. There was perhaps a few occasions where the office set was shoved downstage right and was a little cramped, resulting in everyone being on top each other: given the luxury of a wonderfully wide stage at the Hippodrome, there’s no need to attempt to use a small space tucked out of the way when so much can be achieved by lighting the relevant areas as and when required. 
On a similar theme, I wasn’t sure why certain numbers were encumbered with having pools of light downstage which necessitated performers crossing from one to the the other while in darkness in-between, mid song. 

This was a confident and impressive production which scored highly across the board: impressive performances; thoughtful staging; impeccably directed and staged; musically deft (despite occasionally, lyrics being lost); excellent chorus movement and choreography from Karen Shaw; a meaningful and intelligent production altogether. The audience certainly enjoyed themselves on the evening I attended and I always appreciate the kind hospitality and wonderfully warm atmosphere on display whenever I visit the Hippodrome. I look forward to my next visit and wish you all well with your future productions.  

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.