The very best shows in musical theatre contain three ingredients, a good story, good songs and a good cast to deliver them. Goodness, Idle Women does that by the bucketful – and listen out for the Bucket and Chuck it song, which is a sheer delight.
Billed as ‘scenes and songs from Idle Women based on the women of the waterways in WWII’ the show is actually the first act of what will become a bigger piece to be staged later in the year at the Shoreham Wordfest. Taking an exceptional but little known WWII historical story of the women volunteers who worked the boats, transporting much needed coal for the war effort up the Grand Union Canals, it soon becomes clear that the story is much more than the canal journeys.
Building on the experience of working the canal boats hauling coal, Idol Women also manages to transport a centuries old story of women, their stories, their secrets, their sense of community, sexuality and identity in the face of the many masculinities of not just the war but everyday life. Or as Ginny (Elizabeth Kroon) and Meg (Maple Preston-Ellis) trade in one of the songs,
‘Doors have been left open for women.’
‘More like absentmindedly left ajar.’
Emma Baars as Edna and Catriona Judt as Ruth complete the cast and just as all four crew members had to pull their weight on the boats, so too do they share the delivery of the show. And sharing the load is part of the universal story which the show begins to adopt. When all four harmonise to sing the powerful and sublime show stopper ‘I Want More’ they also begin to address the huge and world-wide issue of female suffrage.
This show is musical theatre at its best. A brilliant and well adapted set, a brilliant story and songs which transcends the stage. Written by the excellent cast along with Nicola Bloom and Phil Jones, who also make up the orchestra, it manages to embody the collective spirit of female emancipation with every emotion it is possible to convey in one show. Catch it now because I will be very surprised if you won’t be queuing for tickets in the West End soon.
Photo credit : Strat Mastoris
Venue Houseboat Varda, Shoreham-on-Sea
Date / times 14/05 2pm & 7pm
brightonfringe.org/events/idle-women-scenes-and-songs-exploring-the-lives-of-women-on-the-waterways-in-wwii/
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