Made in Dagenham

When offered the chance to stage the North-East Scotland premiere of this musical portraying the real life struggle of the ladies of the Ford Dagenham’s fight for equal pay, the company jumped at the challenge of telling a story full of strong characters and with real heart to it – and a magnificent job they made of it! Sophie Hamilton Pike was superb as Rita O’Grady, the unassuming housewife and mother who reluctantly, and at no small cost to herself and her family, became the leader of the ladies in their struggle. Ryan Peacock, as her supportive and eventually long-suffering husband Eddie, was excellent – his rendition of the “The Letter” was heart wrenching. Rachael Watson as Connie Riley, the staunch union supporter and Rita’s mentor in the struggle, also gave an excellent performance as did John Robertson as Monty, torn between support of the ladies of his section and his loyalty to the company. Strong performances were given by Rita’s fellow machinists Sandra (Laura Bennett), Beryl (Rhona Johnston), Cass (Stephanie Longmuir) and Clare (Corrie Howarth) – their banter had the audience laughing in recognition. Also strong in their performances were Gavin Davidson (Mr Hopkins, factory manager), Kirsten Lobban (Lisa Hopkins, his wife) and Matthew Walker (Mr Tooley, Ford’s American representative). Despite the serious subject of the story there is a lot of humour in the show, a fair amount of which was provided by the delightful double act of bumbling Harold Wilson (Andrew Begg) and  down to earth Barbara Castle (Laura Pike) backed up by a camp trio of Civil Servants (Matthew McBrier, Matthew Rose and Gregor Thurlow-White). The show is full of bright numbers which gave the wonderful and enthusiastic chorus lots of scope for full-throttled delivery of both music and dance.  Congratulations to everyone involved for another outstanding show!

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