Tron Theatre, Glasgow
Four stars
In January 1981, 240 women occupied the Greenock factory they worked in after their jobs were put on the line following the factory’s sale. Like the then prime minister, these ladies weren’t for turning. Led by indomitable shop steward Helen Monaghan, the women’s struggle captured the public imagination, and after seven months, in the short term, at least, they won their fight.
Almost half a century on, Frances Poet has taken this vital piece of history and put it back on the front line in her new play that gets to the human heart of the story. Developed from an idea with journalist Paul English, Jemima Levick’s production - a collaboration between the National Theatre of Scotland and the Tron - sets out its store on Jessica Worrall’s old school social club set, where the six-strong cast punctuate each scene by playing some of the year’s smash hits like a cabaret cover band.
The girl group chutzpah on display in the musical numbers arranged by Claire McKenzie acts as commentary on the women’s plight, as Helen, sisters Maggie and Cathie, Helen’s son Finlay and the army they lead find themselves becoming an international cause celebre, feted by film stars and radicals alike. This is framed by Poet as if the women are role-playing themselves before stepping fully into the action. As Helen and co learn to stand up to the double dealing of both bosses and the trade unions who are supposed to be representing them, what follows is a wake up call on several levels.
With a cast led by a heroic Jo Freer as Helen, with cross generational support especially from Chiara Sparkes as Maggie, the result makes for a highly charged experience, especially with some of the characters' real life counterparts watching as part of Wednesday night’s audience.
With references to other stories making the headlines that year – the IRA hunger strikes, the inner city riots - the workers sense of unity is brought to rousing life by Freer, Sparkes, Hannah Jarrett-Scott as Cathie, Madeline Grieve and musical director Shonagh Murray. Aron Dochard’s assorted male characters, meanwhile, possess the cartoonish fashion sense of a Jarvis Cocker in waiting.
There are some great gags, and a knowing reference to wildcat strikes that also gives a nod to the Wildcat Theatre Company whose 1980s political musicals the show channels. These are sucker punches, however, before a moving second half shows what happened next. This becomes an elegy to everything and everyone that was lost in the ideological fallout that followed the era the play debicts in a spirited tribute to the power of the people.
The Herald, April 30th 2026
ends
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