Made in Dagenham

Was it planned or just a happy coincidence that this musical should open on November  10th, designated “Equal Pay Day” in 2016? The show charts an important piece of our social history as the women working at Ford’s Dagenham plant struggled to achieve pay equality with the men on the same grade, leading to a strike of sewing machinists at Dagenham and Halewood in 1968, which halted Ford’s production line. They were drawn into a bigger picture, having to persuade the TUC to make equal pay a national policy, which led to Ford capitulating and the policy being adopted by the Labour government and, in 1975, being made law.

What could have been a worthy but dull history lesson turned out to be a beautiful and powerful piece of theatre with great heart, laugh out loud comedy, superb music and imaginative choreography, performed with great verve by an enthusiastic cast in this slick, well-drilled production.

Helen Stoddart was perfectly cast as Rita O’Grady, who is rather unwillingly thrust into the limelight as the leader of the women. We really felt her anguish when she realised she might be losing her children and sacrificing her marriage for the cause. Helen’s faultless acting and powerful singing further demonstrated the strength that Rita had to find to fight this battle. Matt Sackman was the perfect foil as Eddie O’Grady, the loveable slob of a husband, desperately trying to hold the family together without Rita. He made his song The Letter so heart-felt there must have been more in the audience than just a hard-hearted reviewer shedding the odd tear.

More heart-strings were tugged by Jane Pegler as Connie, who encourages Rita, seeing her as her successor in the fight for equal pay when she finds out she is dying of cancer. Her singing and acting were excellent, as always. Stand-out performances amongst the other women came from Emily Rennicks as Beryl, a really feisty character, not giving a damn what she says; Kayleigh Millen as shy Clare, who couldn’t string a sentence together if her job depended on it and Caroline Westmorland as Lisa Hopkins, wife of the boss, who gradually finds her own voice.

Alan Jenkins and Sue Rourke gave great caricature performances of Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Employment Minister Barbara Castle. The scene where the PM exits into the stationery cupboard was priceless. The PM’s sense of humour, as portrayed, was a side of him we never saw at the time!

Most of the men in the cast took on several roles, morphing seamlessly from factory workers to reporters, company directors and club comics. Danny Owen gave us a really arrogant know-it-all American boss, Tooley, parachuted in to fix the situation and making it a whole lot worse. Spot-on, in my experience of working for US corporations.  Matt Gibbins was also perfect as Buddy Cortina at the product launch. His facial expressions were wonderful to watch as he desperately tried to keep his song going despite the mayhem unfolding around him.

An impressively simple and flexible set perfectly portrayed the factory environment. Great attention to detail had obviously been paid to the props too – the large number of authentic looking sewing machines and the cutaway Cortina for the product launch being two notable examples. Scene changes, managed by members of the cast and costumed stage crew, were slick and efficient so that the scenes flowed smoothly into each other and a cracking pace was maintained throughout. The cast were beautifully costumed with sixties fashions and hairstyles and the lighting created a great atmosphere.

This show was a really enjoyable (and educational) experience that I will not forget for a long time. With shows like this and Avenue Q, Legally Blonde and Sunshine on Leith, South Downe has successfully broken out of the mould of the traditional musical and is all the stronger for it.

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