Inverness Musical Theatre (IMT) lifted the rafters at Eden Court last night [Wednesday March 27] on the opening night of their production of the musical, Made in Dagenham.
Based on the 2010 film of the same name, the show is inspired by real events in Ford’s Dagenham car plant, which eventually led to the Equal Pay Act of 1970.
It’s 1968 and the highly skilled machinists who make the leatherette car seat covers for Cortinas are incensed to find they’ve been downgraded to ‘unskilled’ and given a pay decrease.
Three women emerge from the furious workforce to lead a strike which takes them into direct conflict with prevailing attitudes and not a little misogyny.
Wife and mother Rita O’Grady, played by Alison Ożóg, emerges as the voice of the work force, with Connie Riley, played by Morna Eadie, a disillusioned Labour party representative and Lisa Hopkins (Lauren MacDonald), the highly educated wife of Dagenham’s general manager.
After Connie becomes ill, Rita is forced to take the fight to the Labour Party and the TUC herself, at considerable personal cost.
Ożóg holds centre stage with a quiet charisma, perfectly cast as the wife and mother who suddenly and reluctantly must take up the equal pay cudgel for all women.
It nearly costs her her marriage to Eddie (Matthias Kremer) and her two children, played last night by Harper Macrae and Tobbi Wood.
The couple’s emotional turmoil provides some of the most affecting scenes of the evening.
There’s no place for half-measures in any musical theatre, and IMT threw everything at their production to make it an evening to remember.
A huge, exuberant and multi-talented cast, clever sets, choreography just right for the period along with the mini-skirts and bouffant hair, slick lighting and a pit full of accomplished musicians.
The set piece songs were each a tour de force, particularly This is America, when the ruthless American bosses turn up to try and force the women to capitulate.
The only snag in the production was uneven sound, meaning that some of the dialogue, and its wit and humour, were lost at times.
All the players deserve special mentions for the exuberance, character and personality they brought to their roles, big or small; but here’s one for Margo Fraser who perfectly captured the character Minister for Work Barbara Castle.
And for Nicola Gray as the crude and feisty Beryl; and Zoe Kinnear McIntyre as the treacherous Sandra Beaumont whose incredible singing voice (think Aretha Franklin) I longed to hear more of.
And a special mention to our own P&J reporter Lauren Robertson in the chorus, proving that her sparkling talents are not confined to the written word but find full expression in her ability to sing and dance.
Made in Dagenham runs at Eden Court until Saturday.
