Made In Dagenham, London
New musicals have had it rough in the West End this year, with the likes of the X Factor-inspired I Can’t Sing!, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Stephen Ward and From Here To Eternity closing after short runs. But Made In Dagenham, based on the 2010 film and starring Gemma Arterton, has the pedigree of Rupert Goold as director, while the ubiquitous Richard Bean is on board as writer. It’s the tale of female factory workers going on strike for equal pay at the Dagenham Ford plant in 1968, and falls into the category of small-scale, feelgood tales such as The Full Monty and the recent Pride.
Adelphi Theatre, WC2, to 28 Mar
MC
Juice Festival, Newcastle upon Tyne & Gateshead
This year’s Juice festival has installed David Almond as its artistic advisor. He’ll be offering young audiences a sneak preview of his latest novel and there’s also high-quality theatre in the mix. This includes the splendid Oily Cart’s The Bounce (Northern Stage, Tue & Wed), its latest interactive show for children with profound and learning disabilities, and the Edinburgh hit Chalk About (DanceCity, Thu), which looks at what makes us who we are. Teens are more likely to be interested in Gatecrash (Theatre Royal, Sat), an immersive theatre show using wireless headphones about a party that gets out of hand.
Various venues, Fri to 2 Nov
LG
Bondagers, Edinburgh
There have been some great works about the lives of women working on the land, notably Caryl Churchill’s Fen, and one of the best is this Sue Glover play about farm life in the 19th century. At that time a ploughman was obliged, as part of his contract, to supply a woman to work on the farm, and if a wife was not available he would hire a woman to work the fields. Directed by Lu Kemp, Glover’s play follows the lives and fortunes of half a dozen women employed as bondagers over a year, as they prepare the land and undertake the planting and harvesting. It’s a celebration of a lost way of life which uses dance and song to mark the hopes, triumphs and tragedies that a year brings.
Royal Lyceum, Sat to 15 Nov
LG
Spill Festival, Ipswich
Spill has become a significant event on the live art calendar and this year features some tempting shows, including Ron Athey’s Incorruptible Flesh: Messianic Remains (Town Hall, 1 Nov) and Gob Squad’s Are You With Us? (Jerwood DanceHouse, 1 Nov), an improvised performance in which the company ask each other questions they are afraid to ask both in public and private. You may also want to take a punt on Getinthebackofthevan’s take on The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas (New Wolesley Theatre, Fri) or consider what it means to be a man through Peter McMasters’s all-male Wuthering Heights (Heg, 1 Nov). There’s plenty, too, from artists at the start of their careers, plus talks and discussions.
Various venues, Wed to 2 Nov
LG
First Episode, London
The Jermyn Street Theatre’s 1930s season offers Terence Rattigan’s debut effort First Episode, co-authored with fellow Oxford undergraduate Philip Heimann in 1933, three years before his first big success with French Without Tears. With an original title of Embryo, it was one of the first plays to portray homosexuality, through two louche Oxford students performing in a production of Antony And Cleopatra. Into their midst comes a glamorous film star, creating a romantic triangle (Noël Coward’s ménage-themed Design For Living had come out in 1932). The play started at a small experimental theatre in Kew and had a short run in the West End and Broadway. Rattigan never looked back.
Jermyn Street Theatre, SW1, Tue to 22 Nov
MC
Queen Coal, Sheffield
The anniversary of the miners’ strike has been marked by plenty of theatrical activity, most notably Beth Steele’s Wonderland at Hampstead Theatre earlier this year. Now Bryony Lavery enters the fray with a play that looks at the role of women during the strike and the significant contribution that they made. At its heart is Justine (played by Julia Ford, pictured), an ordinary woman who finds her voice at the front of the picket line as she struggles to hold her family together and forge a new future in a world that is changing fast under Thatcher. The PM is determined to smash the unions by stockpiling coal and taking on the miners, but Justine has got something to say about that and she won’t be silenced.
Crucible Studio, Thu to 22 Nov
LG
