Saturday 11 April 2015

Made in Dagenham

This show might take play in 1968 but the message still speaks loud and clear today too. Based on a true story of how the the women of Ford Dagenham stood together to insist on equal pay for their skilled work. Rit O'Grady is the voice of these women and together with her friends stood their ground until they were given 100% of the same pay as men. 

David Arnold and Richard Thomas work together to make a fantastic soundtrack for Made In Dagenam. The songs support the uplifting and powerful message of the musical from the song's opening Busy Woman to the closing Stand Up. This song has the kind of soundtrack that you could happily sing along to for days on end. In fact, fans of the show can look forward to the soundtrack soon to be downloadable from iTunes. 

The script is just so clever. Filled with witty one liners and perfectly timed jokes that can still be related to today. The humour doesn't take away from the morals of the show but actually empowers it. The men are often portrayed as the comic relief who do not realise the important roles of the women but highly value their own power (although they don't really do much with it). The very tongue in cheek humour in this show is part of it's extraordinary charm. 

The women are incredibly sassy and present a strong and proud community. Gemma Arterton (Rita O' Grady) illustrates an amazing development in her character and is unsurprisingly a fabulous singer. Her friends Connie (Isla Blair), Sandra ( Sophie Isaacs), Beryl (Sophie Stanton) and Cass (aana Agei-Ampadu) are the best group of friends a girl could ask for. The cast are phenomenal and so full of energy. 

Sadly the show closes this evening. If the fans of the show continue to show their support then maybe a tour could be on the horizon? In this day and age the message remains just as relevant as ever and so it would be fantastic to have this show back on stages throughout the UK and hopefully it could make it's way back to the UK today.  

This musical reminds us everywhere of the women who stood up in the past to give us the rights we have now and how we should continue to fight for equality between everyone no matter what differences lie between us. 

Click here for some more information and please support this show!



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