Made in Dagenham

ROAMS Performed the Musical “Made in Dagenham, which is a true story based on a group of female workers in the 1960s at Fort Dagenham, fighting for equal pay.

The large principal cast consists of factory workers, Sandra (Olivia Robbins) Cass (Abbie Robson) Clare (Kay Fitzpatrick) and Beryl (Marie Stitson) who played their parts excellently and brought their characters to life.

The pairings of Mr. Hopkins (Gareth Walters) and Lisa Hopkins (Zoe Lamb)  worked well with each other. The roles of the Prime Minister Harold Wilson (Trevor McClay) and MP Barbara Castle (Elizabeth Armstrong) gave good characteristics and both paring bounced of well of each other and gave  good performance throughout the show. Connie Riley (Jen Braunston) and Monty (Craig Lawrence)  were excellently cast and again good characterization throughout the whole of the show.  Mr Tooley/Chubby Chuff (Stuart Esworthy) carried the accent well, as well as playing the dual role. Mr. Tooley is the owner of the Ford Owned American company and the part was played with the arrogance it required.

Rounding out the principal cast is the O'Grady family, consisting of children's Graham O'Grady  (Thomas) and Sharon O'Grady (Katherine) were small roles, but equally good performances. Eddie O'Grady (Roy Healey)  gave a strong performance with a heart wrenching performance of “the letter” and saving the best till last as they say was Rita O’Grady (Karen Edge) was an outstanding performance, from housewife to leader, the movement seemed effortless with an excellent version of “Stand Up”.

The remaining cast was made up of factory workers, government aids, cronies, more, some of which were named roles, and all did well in the supporting roles.

The choreography on a limited size stage was done by all with ease and the lighting, sound and costumes were in keeping with the time period, and the set was cleverly done to show the variety of scene change locations overall, an enjoyable evening.

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