"Made In Dagenham" by Long Eaton Operatic Society.

May Hall, Trent College, Long Eaton.

The musical is the inspirational account of the women who stitched seat covers for Ford cars in Dagenham and, in 1968, in defiance of their union, struck for equal pay. In particular, it charts how one of the machinists, Rita O’Grady, discovers her own voice in speaking up for her supportive colleagues, but along the way puts her marriage in jeopardy.

Although based in 1968, the echoes of women’s pay equality are still as strong today, but this musical isn’t all about this because it shows the effect the fight for equality has on the women’s home lives.

Rita O' Grady is played by Rachelle Bragg. What a wonderful ballsy performance, full of passion and energy. Rachelle really made you root for Rita as her cause gathered momentum, especially when it became apparent that this was more far reaching than first thought. Rachelle also makes you feel the pain of being let down by her husband, even though Eddie doesn't intend to do so, like most blokes he can be a tad forgetful when it comes to matters of the heart, like a ten year wedding anniversary present. 

The two sides of Rita are highlighted really well with the forceful working woman, fighting for here worker's rights, and at the other end of the spectrum, her family life, trying to make everything work at home; basically juggling both worlds in the same way as women who work do on a daily basis, every day.

Rita’s husband, Eddie, is played by Kheenan Jones. A lovable blokey character role who has a heart of gold. His loyalty to the cause, his wife as well as his kids is an admirable quality in this role. As with Rachelle, Kheenan shows two sides of the hard working family man, having to keep an image with his work comrades, but showing that softer side at home, and it's that conflict that is stretched to breaking point. 

One of my favourite tracks from this musical is a song called "The Letter", which explains lyrically what he is going through. Kheenan's vocals really show that emotional tug of war, a piece that is in complete contrast to another one of my favourites from this soundtrack "I'm Sorry, I Love You", which shows a more light hearted side of Eddie. On the whole, I think that this is one of the best things that I have seen Kheenan do on stage due to the extent of the emotional sides that Eddie has to exhibit.

The kids Graham and Sharon are played by William Curtis and Anja Harvey. Both young actors show a great confidence in their roles.

Connie, the factory shop steward at Ford, is played by Philipa Buchanan. As with many of the characters in this musical, they have a double side to show; the work side and the personal side. Through certain situations, we discover a whole different side of the character which also includes another work colleague. This musical, as you'd imagine from the storyline, is packed with powerful women, the Spice Girls of their day, and Philippa delivers a wonderfully spicy shop steward character, unafraid to stand up for her, and the other women's rights.

Monty, the Union Shop Steward for the women, is played by Andy Cattanach. Although the character comes across as quite hard, he has to balance both sets of views, but we get to see an altogether softer side of this man later on in the musical.

Ali Langton brings much of the humour playing Harold Wilson as an absolute buffoon with some similarities to Monty Python. It's like watching a human version of "Spitting Image" where all the mannerisms are completely over the top. If you've never see Harold Wilson in sock suspenders, handkerchief cap, braces and sporting a giant ice cream and flake, go and see this production because it's great fun.

Alex Tavener shows a powerful but human representation of Barbara Castle, and I loved the accent, and that wig, "Fiery, just like her hair". Alex is one of my favourite local actors, and this role is just perfect as it brings out Alex's ability for comedy, as well as the human side of such a fiery character. Alex's big song in this musical is "Ideal World" which really shows off Alex's vocal range.

The four aides are played by Aimee Chilton, Lisa Stone, Nikola Smith and Shan Bhumbra. There's a brilliant scene with the quartet that looks like it had been lifted from "A Clockwork Orange" with the suits and bowler hats. Great fun.

Mina Holtom plays Beryl, the coarse work colleague who can't complete a sentence without swearing, and always interested in every other girl's sex life. I love this character because you'll always find a Beryl in every factory, office or working environment. Mina is the perfect casting for this particular role, and even though I couldn't see, I just know that she had a twinkle in her eye when playing Beryl.

Amy Parker plays Clare, the factory worker who is always lost for, just the right word to complete what she means to say. Immense fun, especially with Clare's song, "Wossname".

Ellie Simmonds is Sandra, the lovable, street-wise and trendy character who is "getting plenty". Leggy Ellie looks perfect in the sixties inspired mini skirt, beehive style hair and smoky make up. The look reminded me of Dusty Springfield, completely fitting the time period for the musical. Great dancing and lovely tongue in cheek vocals as part of the "Cortina Man" scene. I know that Ellie was battling with a throat infection but the show went on, and only managed to make Sandra sound even sexier than ever. Keep steaming Ellie!

Natalie Webster plays Cass, , a level-headed machinist with big dreams. Cass is ambitious and down-to-earth, the voice of reason amongst her friends. Though frustrated with her current work, she holds onto an idealistic dream of becoming an airline pilot.

Adam Guest plays Tooley, and this could be a first because Adam plays a not so nice character in the American boss of the Ford plant. Tooley is brought in to sort out the strike but just makes things harder for the workers. Adam is at home playing strong characters and this is one of those characters that come into a show mid way through and throws a spanner well and truly in the works. Tooley's big song is "This Is America", and strangely enough echoes what is going on over there at the moment, all money and bravado and putting anyone down who was not from over the pond. Now who does that remind you of? I've never seen Adam play a bad role, and how nice to see him in a different light in this comical baddie role.

Lisa Hopkins and Mr Hopkins are one pair which show that opposites must have attracted at one time in the past. Played by Rachel Merrill and Adam Worton. Lisa helps the women with their fight for rights at Dagenham; highly qualified but those qualifications are completely ignored by her husband, who is in charge of the plant.

Jack Woolley plays Cortina Man. With the launch of the new Mark II Cortina, there's a big launch which includes a song and dance section including Cortina Man. Jack's  bright blue costume looked like something out of Austin Powers, all adding to that fun sixties vibe.

Stuart Bull (Sid), Dan Scott (Bill), Harvey Latter (Barry), Rhodri Denton (Hubble), Sultan Chaudhury (Ron Macer). This testosterone filled male work gang balance the scales of the female stitchers.

It’s a large cast so it would not be right to leave out the wonderful ensemble of Daisy Forster, Megan Fennell, Eleanor Harvey, Anna Fitzpatrick, Louise McGowan, Laura Lawless, Tracy Hooton, Mariko Jones, Joanna East, Tim Howell, Jack David and Lilli White.

Principal dancers are Charlie Buchanan, Molly Parkinson, Nicola Adcock, Erin Hill, Becky Morley, Emma Collins and captained by Daisy Donoghue.

It's a great story, a great soundtrack and a brilliant cast and no wonder the tickets are flying out of the box office.

Directed by Simon Parker, and as a Directorial debut this man obviously knows what he is doing with this show. That's no surprise though as Simon played Eddie a few years' ago. Assisted by Laura Davey who has helped keep the musical tight and pacy and extremely enjoyable.

Choreographed by Victoria Palmer, this is a big show to choreograph with some massive ensemble numbers that burst with energy.

Musical Director is Jonah Williams so the music was guaranteed to be of the highest quality. Jonah is one of the busiest and most sought after MDs at the moment; this production shows why that is. There are some brilliantly catchy songs like "Busy Women", "I'm Sorry, I Love You", "Everybody Out", "This Is America" - which could have been omitted from the Green Day musical "American Idiot" - "Cortina Man" with it's almost cringe worthy rhymes, "The Letter" packed with voice cracking emotion and "Viva Eastbourne", a song that always reminds me of a Madness song for some reason, and the closing song that had everybody roused, "Stand Up".

Sound design is by Matt Haslam, and on the whole was crystal clear. There were some issues with mic cues and kept clipping off some of the first lines but you know what I am like for these sorts of things, I know "Mr Picky".

Lighting design and operation is by David Price.

This musical is a great feel-good piece of theatre that champions the underdog; with a marvellous soundtrack and a cast which reads like a local who's who, this show is an uplifting slice of living history.

LEOS also have a touch tour for the show and a British Sign Language Interpreter (BSL) in the form of Kat Pearson on the Saturday matinee performance, there's also a quiet room available for anyone who is uncomfortable around crowds or too much noise during the interval, making this production completely inclusive. There's also a QR Code on the programme that customers to scan to be able to listen to an audio programme.

“Made In Dagenham” is at May Hall, Trent College, Long Eaton until Saturday 12 April.

Photos by Oolay Photography.