REVIEW
Little Theatre Company present
Made in Dagenham The Musical
Palace Theatre, Westcliff
Wed 10 May - Sat 13 May 2023
Little Theatre Company present
Made in Dagenham The Musical
Palace Theatre, Westcliff
Wed 10 May - Sat 13 May 2023
Everybody Out (to see LTC’s brilliant show)
It is 1968, the women working as machinists at the Ford Motor Company in Dagenham have just found out that they’ve been downgraded to unskilled workers. Finding their union can do nothing; they band together, and demand to discuss it with the unsympathetic male management. These men see the women as housewives working for pin money, supported by their husbands. This leads to the first female workers’ strike that laid the ground roots for what we know today as women’s lib. Paving the way for legislation for equal pay for women.
This true story was turned into a very successful film in 2010, and later this award-winning musical. As performed by the Little Theatre Company (LTC), we have a brilliant, high-energy ensemble production.
The story revolves around a reluctant activist, who puts her marriage in jeopardy, as her male chauvinist husband, well played by Sam Whitby as a character straight out of Easter Enders, feels threatened. There are also confident performances by her children played by Freddie Cathan and Eliza Waddilove.
Initially, Rita (Heather Smith in her first lead role for LTC) is a timid housewife, who doesn’t understand the long words used by her son’s headmaster. However, she ends by reluctantly addressing the TUC without notes. It is an excellent performance by Heather. She is very strong vocally and is very natural on stage. She is supported by a large cast of raunchy, mini skirted women, all who give very strong performances.
All the cast are strong vocally and in characterisation. There is Beryl, the loud-mouthed colleague with only one thing on her mind. A great comic performance by Tracey Whitby, stutterer Clare (Charley Sutton), Sally Lightfoot, the mature union convenor tired of it all, and Monty (Bradley Green) the man trying to keep his foot in both camps. There are some very funny, comic dances, involving bowler-hatted civil servants, and a witty Harold Wilson (Julian Cottee). In addition, Stephanie Wilson in a bright red wig gives a strong portrayal of Barbara Castle who is ‘fiery like her hair.’ She is sympathetic to the women’s demands, having fought her way up in a man’s world, but her hands are tied.
I particularly liked Tim Cater as the gross bully, Henry Ford, who throws his weight about denigrating everyone. He opens the second half with the brilliant song This is America, supported by cheerleaders, a female army and CIA bodyguards. Tim delivers the very clever lyrics in a high impact performance.
The ensemble playing is second to none. I take my hat off to the director, Becca Pooley, and Gemma Carracher, the choreographer, for their handling of such a large cast of players. Also, the excellent use of the split-level set.
Made in Dagenham, has very clever lyrics by Richard Thomas, who also created Jerry Springer – the Opera, and music by David Arnold. Whilst Richard Bean, who is now most famous for One Man, Two Governors, supplies some great comic lines. There is even a joke about Ganex raincoats for Harold Wilson, which might have gone over the heads of the modern audience.
This is a very tight production, the dance routines are imaginative, slick and high impact. In fact, all the factory workers are high energy, including the men. The songs are catchy, and clever. It is quite ironic in this day and age, seeing a man in the 1960s singing a love song to a Cortina. No change there then! A nice performance by Chris Higginson, looking like an American popstar in his glittery white suit backed by Go Go girls in Lurex.
As someone who was brought up in a council house in Dagenham, in the sixties, I recognised many of the characters. My father was management at Fords at the time of the strike (although the male workers were usually on strike nearly every year) and I related to most of the types presented here. However, I would take issue with the use of the four letter words, which were used by women in the musical and the film. No women I knew ever used that language and would have been shocked if a man had used it in their presence, which was most unlikely then.
The period feeling of the 60s is well conveyed, so it is full marks to the LTC’s costume team. The clothes are bright and colourful and I am amazed to see that they even managed to find a 60s Biba’s dress.
The strong ensemble managed to find all the comic rhythms and emotional resonances of the songs and had excellent voices. However, it was the way they delivered the songs that drew the audience in.
Made in Dagenham The Musical with its slick, catchy tunes demonstrates that striking women are well worth making a song and dance about.
Review by Jacquee Storozynski-Toll
The show continues at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff
Thurs 11 May - Saturday 13 May
Wed - Sat: 7.30pm - £21.50 / Thu & Sat: 2.30pm - £18.50
A £3.65 transaction fee may apply to your order
This true story was turned into a very successful film in 2010, and later this award-winning musical. As performed by the Little Theatre Company (LTC), we have a brilliant, high-energy ensemble production.
The story revolves around a reluctant activist, who puts her marriage in jeopardy, as her male chauvinist husband, well played by Sam Whitby as a character straight out of Easter Enders, feels threatened. There are also confident performances by her children played by Freddie Cathan and Eliza Waddilove.
Initially, Rita (Heather Smith in her first lead role for LTC) is a timid housewife, who doesn’t understand the long words used by her son’s headmaster. However, she ends by reluctantly addressing the TUC without notes. It is an excellent performance by Heather. She is very strong vocally and is very natural on stage. She is supported by a large cast of raunchy, mini skirted women, all who give very strong performances.
All the cast are strong vocally and in characterisation. There is Beryl, the loud-mouthed colleague with only one thing on her mind. A great comic performance by Tracey Whitby, stutterer Clare (Charley Sutton), Sally Lightfoot, the mature union convenor tired of it all, and Monty (Bradley Green) the man trying to keep his foot in both camps. There are some very funny, comic dances, involving bowler-hatted civil servants, and a witty Harold Wilson (Julian Cottee). In addition, Stephanie Wilson in a bright red wig gives a strong portrayal of Barbara Castle who is ‘fiery like her hair.’ She is sympathetic to the women’s demands, having fought her way up in a man’s world, but her hands are tied.
I particularly liked Tim Cater as the gross bully, Henry Ford, who throws his weight about denigrating everyone. He opens the second half with the brilliant song This is America, supported by cheerleaders, a female army and CIA bodyguards. Tim delivers the very clever lyrics in a high impact performance.
The ensemble playing is second to none. I take my hat off to the director, Becca Pooley, and Gemma Carracher, the choreographer, for their handling of such a large cast of players. Also, the excellent use of the split-level set.
Made in Dagenham, has very clever lyrics by Richard Thomas, who also created Jerry Springer – the Opera, and music by David Arnold. Whilst Richard Bean, who is now most famous for One Man, Two Governors, supplies some great comic lines. There is even a joke about Ganex raincoats for Harold Wilson, which might have gone over the heads of the modern audience.
This is a very tight production, the dance routines are imaginative, slick and high impact. In fact, all the factory workers are high energy, including the men. The songs are catchy, and clever. It is quite ironic in this day and age, seeing a man in the 1960s singing a love song to a Cortina. No change there then! A nice performance by Chris Higginson, looking like an American popstar in his glittery white suit backed by Go Go girls in Lurex.
As someone who was brought up in a council house in Dagenham, in the sixties, I recognised many of the characters. My father was management at Fords at the time of the strike (although the male workers were usually on strike nearly every year) and I related to most of the types presented here. However, I would take issue with the use of the four letter words, which were used by women in the musical and the film. No women I knew ever used that language and would have been shocked if a man had used it in their presence, which was most unlikely then.
The period feeling of the 60s is well conveyed, so it is full marks to the LTC’s costume team. The clothes are bright and colourful and I am amazed to see that they even managed to find a 60s Biba’s dress.
The strong ensemble managed to find all the comic rhythms and emotional resonances of the songs and had excellent voices. However, it was the way they delivered the songs that drew the audience in.
Made in Dagenham The Musical with its slick, catchy tunes demonstrates that striking women are well worth making a song and dance about.
Review by Jacquee Storozynski-Toll
The show continues at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff
Thurs 11 May - Saturday 13 May
Wed - Sat: 7.30pm - £21.50 / Thu & Sat: 2.30pm - £18.50
A £3.65 transaction fee may apply to your order
