24/4/24

Wow, just wow! From the moment this cast came on the stage and sang the number Busy Women, we knew we were in for a treat.

Pied Pipers, this is one of your best shows and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Director, Megan Stickler-Sell and the creative team have excelled themselves. It felt like I was watching a professional West End performance.

The cast were amazing, headlined by Vikki Jones, who was in her element as Rita O’Grady. She brought out beautifully the angst of wanting to represent the women but not neglect her family – the work/life balance that many women are still juggling. The vocals throughout were outstanding, from a really talented cast, and Philippa Clark was absolutely fabulous as Barbara Castle, her solos were outstanding. A fine performance from Emma Harpley as posh Mrs. Hopkins, showing even the middle class women needed to stand up for their rights.

The story is based on the strike at Ford Dagenham (1968), when women’s roles were downgraded to unskilled, and they fought not just to get recognition as skilled workers, but to level up their pay to be the same as the skilled men’s. This show is well-written and highlights not only the injustices, but the attitudes of the time and the difficulties that women and other minorities still face, because of simply being in a minority, but in a highly entertaining way.

As the women strike and the men are laid off, families struggle as money is tight and we see the angst of family break up, depicted really well by Rita’s own marriage to fellow Ford worker Eddie, played with great emotional range by Ben Clark as the pressured hubby. A mention here for the children, played by Connie Jones and Rupert Fisher, who put in excellent performances.

With so many good performances it’s hard to pick out any in particular, however Paul Malpas did a great job of showing how Monty, the union rep and foreman, was caught between wanting to represent the women but also pressured by the management, squeezed between the two camps; the Management team were terrifyingly resonant of that era and attitude and Adam Mansfield was hilarious as Tooley, the American Ford boss, in his debut role.

The Dagenham Boys and Girls had some fantastic numbers, the show has some really catchy tunes such as Busy Woman, Everybody Out and the rousing finale Stand Up and Emily Garner’s choreography made the most of the space and the cast with some high energy numbers. The male ensemble routines were fab, as were This is America and Cortina. Crucially, all the ensemble had characters, that we get, which brings the story to life.

The costumes were superb – loved the 60’s vibe and the designer name-dropping! The set was in three parts on two levels, and worked really well, with the Management above left and the Politicians even further above right. The band was hidden offstage, ably led by MD Andrew Taylor. The tech was great, sound balance excellent.

A successful musical is much more than ‘the sum of its parts’ and this is a great example – the whole show has been brought together in a huge bundle of energy, talent and joy which was a delight to experience.

This show is sold out and had a well-deserved standing ovation last night by an audience who had had their socks knocked off!

Photos by Dee Dee Doke