Powerful social history with a bang!
This story of the chain makers from the ‘Black Country’ fighting for the first minimum wage back in 1910 is an impressive piece of work by the creators and cast of ‘Rouse ye Women’. There is no dialogue just music, movement and percussion to get the story across.
With an opening sequence of percussion that lasted for at least 15 minutes the audience feels that they are looking in on the toil of the women in terrible, noisy conditions.
The cast members put a tremendous amount of energy into their movement and I shudder to think how much rehearsal time went in to getting this to the high standard achieved.
The songs were both powerful and poignant but the drumming on the bins and the use of hammers on chains was what made this show unique.
You may have gathered it is noisy and while that is strength in conveying the intensity of the piece it may be a bit overwhelming for some ears.
The creative team deserve credit for developing the show and it may have potential to get a niche following.
Runs til 17 August, 7.50pm