Made in Dagenham

This was the society’s fourth production at the Carnegie Theatre in Workington, due to the lack of a suitable venue in their home town, and what an excellent job they made of this recently released show for amateur companies.

The show is based on the true story of the female workers of the Ford Motor Company in Dagenham, and their fight for equality with their male counterparts in the factory.

There were some excellent performances in the show, but special mention must go to Zoe Robertson, she was brilliant as wife, mother and strike leader Rita O’ Grady. She was equally well supported by Luke Matear as husband Eddie, also a Ford worker. He became disillusioned with her, over her role as strike leader, and left home with their two children, leaving Rita a letter, as to why he had left. As she read the letter, Luke sang the contents of it, the why and wherefore.This was a lovely piece of musical theatre.

There wasn’t a weak link in the show, all Rita’s colleagues, very well played, as were the male members of the company. Special mention must go to Clare McMullen and Stuart Evans as MP Barbara Castle and PM Harold Wilson, respectively, both very convincing.

There were some lovely solos and ensembles in the performance, and director Clark had also choreographed some clever dance routines. The staging was excellent, with the cast changing the scenes,  this made the show very slick, and made it run very smoothly.

The orchestra led by new MD, Alex Clarke were very good. The lighting plot, suited the scenes very well, and the sound was good after a very loud and distorted opening. Thank goodness it wasn’t like that for the whole performance.

Congratulations to the company, and especially to director Clark Wilkinson  for an excellent and very enjoyable production. It’s a pity there wasn’t  more bums on seats, the night I was there, the company deserved a full house, let’s hope they get one for the rest of the run.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.