Made in Dagenham – reviews of 'crowd-pleasing' Brit musical

What you need to know

A new musical of Made in Dagenham has opened at the Adelphi Theatre, London. Rupert Goold directs the stage show, based on a true story and the hit 2010 film. It features a book by Richard Bean (One Man, Two Guvnors) and music by David Arnold (Hot Fuzz, and Sherlock).

Set in 1968, it stars Gemma Arterton as Rita, wife, mother and factory worker at Ford’s Dagenham car plant, who is outraged when she discovers that the pay grade for female workers will be dropped to ‘unskilled’. Rita leads her friends in a battle for fair pay against the Ford management and a corrupt union, but finds that her family life suffers in the process. Runs until 28 March.

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What the critics like

The creators of Made in Dagenham have transformed a hugely popular feel-good movie into "a big-budget, even more crowd-pleasing, British musical", says Paul Taylor in The Independent. This show – with its slick, catchy tunes, droll, mischievous lyrics and positively gag-infested book – infectiously demonstrates that it’s a saga well worth making a song and dance about.

"This is a deeply, unapologetically British musical with a quirky, big-hearted charm," says Henry Hitchings in the Evening Standard. Fizzing with salty humour it's robustly likeable, mixing passionate populism with bursts of big-budget flamboyance.

It’s witty, fun, inventive and "distinctly English", says Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail. This colourful, amiable production with a feel-good approach to a long-won battle for fairness will win plenty of friends for an evening’s easy entertainment.

What they don't like

There are things to enjoy in this stage show, but it "suffers from its caricatures, relentless jokiness and a functional score", says Michael Billington in The Guardian. It strikes a feminist posture, but lacks genuine passion.