Made in Dagenham

 

After a very warm welcome from staff at FOH we were led to our seats in the beautiful school hall at Westcliff High School for Girls accompanied by well-chosen sixties playlist. The open set was of 2 towers clad with corrugated sheeting and a fine mist which proved a very effective back drop to the story of the ladies in the upholstery shop at Fords Dagenham plant. Their struggle for equal pay and recognition of their skills made me wonder how such a young cast would interpret this watershed moment in modern history in the light of today’s expectations. As soon as the first scene unfolded, I could tell that Mr Cottee (Director and producer) and his team of staff had instilled the importance of this moment in time and the difficulties and ‘grey areas’ surrounding the choices made.

The direction by Mr Cottee was, as I’ve come to expect from him, superb. The young people were fully invested in the story line and the fun interactions between the characters. The pace and fluency of the production was admirable and the scene changes, by an obviously well drilled team, were smooth and always done under the cover of clever lighting and an underscore delivered by a superb band. Mrs A Daniels (the Musical Director) led her group of young players superbly through the lovely music which was both stirring and also sentimental at times. The talent displayed by the young instrumentalists was, quite frankly, amazing. The singing was confident and tuneful and the harmonies were delightful. The band produced a smooth blend of support for the show. If the cast had any nerves, they certainly didn’t show it, and all of them demonstrated a level of energy and commitment that was wonderful to see.

I am going to mention a few of the main characters but my apologies if I don’t mention everyone by name.

Iris-Lilly Oldham took on the daunting role of Rita, the unexpected leader of the women’s movement at Fords. Iris-Lilly developed her role from the first ‘Busy Woman’ song, where she is a practical and long-suffering wife, to her final ‘Stand Up’ song where she displays new confidence and strength in a very mature way. Her voice was lovely and she approached every song with confidence. She also had a lovely on-stage relationship with her husband, Eddie, her best friend and mentor, Connie, and Monty, the shop steward. She and her girls in the upholstery shop were an absolute power house! Roxanna Rutherford, as Beryl, was great. She was rude, cheeky and loveable all at the same time. She too possessed a strong voice and her timing was superb. Srishti Kalkur and Sefunmi Adeyemi as Sandra and Cass respectively provided great support and confidence in their roles. Srishti really came into her own during the Cortina advert scene which was beautifully costumed. The last of the main group was the lovely ‘dipsey’ Clare, played by Evangeline Last. I must congratulate Evangeline on a cracking performance in this role. She carried us along with her in the safe knowledge that we never quite knew what was going to come out of her mouth, prompted or unprompted. This was a hilarious portrayal as was Barbara Castle, played by Alice Walton, and Harry Beehag-Fisher as Harold Wilson. I thought that this was where such young performers would not be able to cope with these characters. I was wrong! They were superb. Alice really found her feet in ‘Ideal World’ and showed the transition from the steely Barbara Castle into the empathetic woman fighting for women’s rights beautifully. As for Harry, well what can I say about this young man’s comedic talents as Harold Wilson? If he ever needs a change of career from Physics and dark matter investigations, I think one awaits you in comedy. This was a beautifully timed performance and you never stepped out of the gurning, pipe sucking persona of Harold. Sadly, I didn’t get to see Krystof Spudis as Monty but we did get the opportunity to witness Mr Cottee in action as your stand in! This must be every director’s nightmare, to have to step into a role at moment’s notice and learn the words. Huge congratulations.

Elliot Chapman, as Eddie, had a difficult part to play but did so with loveable ease. We were with him all the way from the moment he and his production line cronies burst onto the stage in a dance routine reminiscent of Grease, to his ultimate support for Rita. It was so well done, and his song, ‘The Letter’ was beautiful.

Connie was played exactly right by Dionne Sevilla. This is a difficult role dealing with being in charge in the upholstery shop and fighting for equality as well as dealing with a terminal illness. There are some very strong emotions involved here and she interpreted them beautifully and with great maturity.

A huge well done to Mr Tooley, played by Jonnie Smith, as the brash American who has one of the funniest songs in the show, and Armandas Vaiciunas as ‘Cortina Man’. Both of them had great fun roles in the show and depicted them so well. Ali Ahmed Anwar Shafeeq gave us the Ford manager, Jeremy Hopkins, and Naomi Oke played his wife Lisa. Both characters were well thought through and both actors obviously enjoyed their roles. Naomi gave a lovely sympathetic performance, once again, transitioning through being the educationally neglected wife to gaining a job and status again.

There were so many cast members that took parts such as the political aides and workshop ‘lads’ as well as the machine room girls. The commitment from them all was fantastic

The choreography was great, always giving a nod to the sixties, but coupled with lovely modern moves. The assistant choreographer, Grace Rogers, undertook a lot of the design of these routines alongside Mrs Fox, and showed true talent in choreography skills.

Props and costumes were appropriate for the time although I don’t remember a box brownie camera being used in the sixties (yes, I am that old!) but I could be wrong!

A congratulatory ‘shout out’ to the tech team who I had the pleasure of talking to. Often hidden away upstairs in shadowy balconies, these young people had an immensely professional set up and it was delightful talking through their exceptionally proficient execution of their roles. Thank you to Lucie Moller, (DSM) Jessica Hutchins (sound operator) and Laksha Vijayakumar (lights operator) for an interesting interval chat.

I had such a lovely visit to Westcliff Girls School both from the hospitality front and the admiration of their dazzling show. Many congratulations to everyone involved

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