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.

At the heart of Made In Dagenham 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.  Lorraine Tufft excels both in her acting and vocal performance providing this central core, and the show’s overall success was in no small part due to Lorraine’s energy and range of emotion. Rita’s children, Graham & Sharon (Alex Tanco & Aria Craigie-Sharland tonight, doubling with Wilson Morris & Mabel Strachan at alternate performances), gave super performances with excellent diction. The ‘girls’ played by Margaret Mackenzie as Connie  and Kay Dickson as Beryl – known to mouth the occasional expletive, together with   Emma Paterson, Sophie Penman and June Paterson as Sandra, Clare and Cass all delivered very believable characters with just the right level of lip.  Nick Tobias delivered a strong Eddie O’Grady throughout, culminating in ‘The Letter’ which never fails to bring tears to many of the audience.  Darren Rhodes was in fine form as Harold Wilson and managed to bring maximum comedy to the role. I must say, however, that Fiona Brodie as Barbara Castle presented a masterful performance – one of the best I have had the pleasure of seeing Fiona perform. The Ford Management too, was very well portrayed by Charlie Sinclair, Andrew Lowrie, Ian Brown and Harry Kerr. These, together with Clark Graham as Monty, brought even more realism to the cast – and memories to those of us unfortunate enough to remember the strike of ’68!

Liam Nardone’s choreography was strong and period-appropriate throughout the production. The attention to detail by MD Alan Gibson was very much in evidence with strong vocals and great balance between band and stage. Appropriate and sympathetic direction was shown by Nigel Orkney. Costuming and props all contributed to the success of the performance.   Unfortunately, radio mics were dropping out on several occasions tonight, particularly regrettable in Eddie O’Grady’s “The Letter” number.

A very enjoyable production of a hard-hitting musical – congratulations to one and all.

Thank you so much for inviting us and for the hospitality shown!

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