The Bryant & May Matchgirls strike in 1888 in Bow. Fords in Dagenham and the fishing industry champions, the Women Of Hessle Road, both in 1968. The Grunwick dispute in Dollis Hill in 1976. Fast forward to 1981, the Lee Jeans factory in Greenock, a fading town west of Glasgow once vibrant with ‘ships & sugar’. Maggie T is attempting to drag the UK out of the dismal 70’s, with, as they say, scant regard for the horses.
Cue the factory’s American owners, having availed themselves of some generous government assistance in Greenock in the first place, are having their heads turned by similar enticements in N Ireland. 240 jobs, predominantly for local women, hang in the balance. The story was exhaustively researched by local journalist and broadcaster Paul English and written by Frances Poet.
Opening with Kim Wilde’s ‘Kids In America’ the musical component of the show landed front and centre, a telling snapshot of the era; the impending material and wealth-led gloss of the 80’s set against a backdrop of decline that had begun in the 60’s. The entire cast revealed their vocal and musical chops on drums, bass, guitar and keyboards, a trumpet and an accordion joining the mix at one point. Did we mention the choreography (Chris Stuart Wilson)? Heavily produced songs from the 80’s from Bowie, Adam & The Ants and Duran Duran were expertly arranged and rendered with this relatively limited instrumentation (MD Shonagh Murry and Arranger Claire McKenzie), working hand-in-hand with the script, avoiding the ham of a musical. Chiara Sparkes’ irresistible, effervescent performance as Maggie dominated at first but as the play progressed Jo Freer’s passionate portrayal of shop steward Helen Monaghan steadily took the attention. Both were more than just supported by Hannah Jarrett-Scott’s Cathie, Aron Dochard’s Finlay/Bob Charters/Jimmy and Madeline Grieve’s array of characters, played with neat comic timing. The costumes and set (Jessica Worrall) displayed an eye for detail, Kickers in evidence alongside some vintage phones, certain to baffle a modern generation with the mechanics of popping a 2p piece into a slot upon hearing the ‘pips’.
There was so much going on it would have been easy to produce a messy collage but credit to Director Jemima Levick for giving every element its place. The show was ‘conceived to be a good night out’ wrote Frances Poet and it was certainly uplifting but… sadly not much has changed in the intervening 40 years.
Reviewer: Roger Jacobs
Reviewed: 19th May 2026
North West End UK Rating:
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