Review: WHEN WE STRIKE, Southwark Playhouse Elephant - BYMT

Photo credit: Greta Zabulyte

We never know quite what to expect when seeing a new musical, and it’s always a delight when it turns out to be a winner – and that was certainly the case at Southwark Playhouse with the British Youth Music Theatre production of When We Strike. This new musical by Caitlin Burt and Amir Schoenfeld revisits the famous case of the match girls strike in the East End in 1888, itself the subject of a previous musical in 1966. This show tells the same story, but using a driving punk-inspired-by-music-hall register which really works for the show and its young cast.

BYMT are a charity and provide opportunities for training and performance by young people around the country. They specialise in new musicals, so they also fulfil a vital role in giving that complex art form a route to performance. Music ranges from an apparently familiar but newly-written “Knees Up” Cockney number to rock solos and large group anthems. There are solos, duos and a large number of exhilarating large cast numbers, delivered here with precision, enthusiasm and considerable stage presence. ‘We’ll Stand Together’ is a stirring anthem which is a standout, as is the signature number ‘Fanning a Flame’. The finale, exhorting others to start a fire of protest, provides a fitting end as the match that is lit at the opening is finally extinguished.

The 35 members of the all-female cast range in age from 11 to 22 and are uniformly excellent. There are young musicians involved too, and the (almost) all female creative team know exactly how to get the best from their cast. It’s an exhilarating watch for the audience too, thrilling to the effect of this large and very committed cast in the small space at Southwark Playhouse Elephant. Director Georgie Rankcom, together with choreographer Jane McMurtrie, have driven the cast to give off their very best, and the melding together of movement and sound is always suited to the talent on offer.

Ruth Badila provides an adaptable set and some very impressive costumes, including some witty moustaches, hats and umbrellas on sticks that sketch in swiftly a change of social milieu. Ruth Harvey’s lighting contributes greatly too, including an inventive suggestion, using UV, of the dreaded phossy jaw which forms part of the plot. The tight five piece band is led by MD Jessica Dives and includes three young musicians – all coping well with being separated at opposite sides of the stage gantry.

The cast are listed in the programme but not by character played and in any case, this is an ensemble piece. It is, however, enhanced by some nicely acted (and directed) cameos of, for example, some upper class commentators, a newspaper seller, a music hall singer and Mr Bryant and Mr May, played as a kind of music hall double act. More extended portrayals of the Factory Foreman, a young girl dying of phossy jaw, her sister, the lead striker and an enthusiastic maker of placards are just some of those who catch the eye, but there are no weak links in this talented and deftly guided group.

And all this was produced in two weeks, culminating in just two days of performance at this high standard. A fleeting opportunity, then, for Southwark Playhouse regulars to catch this show – and perhaps to look out for future productions from BYMT (which is a charity, and deserves every support it gets). When We Strike is a glorious new musical by any standard; for it to have been produced in two weeks with a young cast is a stunning achievement. See it if you can, during the all too brief run, and look out for the show in future.

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Chris Abbott

When We Strike plays at Southwark Playhouse Elephant until 31 August, with further info here.