When We Strike, British Youth Music Theatre Review
Photo by Greta Zabulyte.
Written by Charlotte for Theatre and Tonic.
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review. All opinions are our own.
British Youth Music Theatre (BYMT) bring the premiere of Caitlin Burt and Amir Schoenfeld’s new musical When We Strike to Southwark Playhouse. Billed as a ‘punk-rock musical’ about the Match Girls’ strike of 1888, a landmark moment in the history of labour rights in the United Kingdom, When We Strike is less of a history lesson than it is a dizzyingly high-energy romp against a vaguely Victorian background.
The show is strung together with a simple motif–the old Hans Christian Andersen tale of The Little Match Girl, who lit the matches she could not sell to keep warm and died frozen on the sidewalk–performed in a balletic prologue as a stark foil to the rough and tumble East London Match Girls who eschew such a dainty tale. It’s a clever way in to the tale, and the return of the little match girl is utilised cleverly by Burt and Schoenfeld throughout, bringing a delightful, if small, layer of intrigue to an otherwise fairly formulaic drama.
It is not necessarily a bad formula. While comparing one new musical to another is somewhat overdone in the critical world, it’s hard not to see where When We Strike sits in-between the likes of Lizzie and Newsies, building on existing audiences for all-female punk ‘history’ and large ensemble feel-good musicals about the plights of young people in the nineteenth century. The assemblage of the history into a neat, one-act plot is predictable–from the reporter who dares to try convincing the workers their voices should be heard to the tragedy befalling the most innocent igniting the masses to act. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with such a plot structure. It’s tried and true and plenty enjoyable. Just don’t expect to emerge with a nuanced perspective on the Match Girls’ strike and its position within the workers’ rights movement. It’s not that kind of show.
It is, however, the perfect kind of show for its massive cast of BYMT performers. The solid framework on which When We Strike builds itself is an apt structure for young actors to work within. Not to mention they never struggle to maintain the show’s unrelentingly high-energy score, manoeuvring each belt-y anthem and foot-stomping dance break with infectious zeal. The level of ensemble work required to fit so many performers on the stage without completely drowning out any hope of harmony between them is no small feat, and it is doubly impressive to see such young people succeed in it so skilfully. If they struggle in anything, it’s maintaining clarity through the sea of thick East London dialects, which are excellently maintained, though seemingly at the cost of good diction, which does make the action difficult to follow from time to time.
Overall, When We Strike is a piece that is certain of its identity–a youthful musical laden with a sense of ‘girl-power.’ It may not break any ground when it comes to history musicals, but it’s abundantly clear from this premiere production that When We Strike is an excellent addition to the repertoire of young performers everywhere, with plenty of fiery tunes to offer.
★★★★
