Review: Sylvia at The Old Vic

Last week I went to the press night for the Old Vic’s newest show Sylvia! That night the show was still a work in progress and we were warned it might run over.  I primed myself for a long night.

Sylvia is a musical which follows the journey to give women the vote in the UK from the early 1900s onwards. At the heart of this story is the Pankhurst family; in particular daughters Sylvia, Cristabel, their mother Emmeline and to a lesser extent the other siblings Adela and Harry. They, along with many others in the Women’s Social and Political Union, lobby continuously for political support to give women the vote. The obstacles are enormous including public opposition, political mockery and very disturbing acts of violence or abuse. As the first half went on I got a strong sense of a grassroots movement engaged in a kind of minor civil war; employing increasingly guerilla style tactics to raise their profile. The piece also touches on the beginnings of the Labour Party.  It is all quite a lot to pack in. At times I felt it was too much detail to take in.

My main issue with musicals is that often, during the singing, I wish they would stop and start talking normally. But here I found the singing and dancing far more convincing than the rare moments of dialogue.

The music of Sylvia takes very clear inspiration from hip hop, R&B and even gospel. Sometimes this along with the modern choreography jarred a little with the subject matter.  But it was largely effective.

Dare I mention the H word? Hamilton? The comparisons are obvious.

There were several successful stand out moments, especially in the rally scenes. My favourite featured the whole ensemble singing and shouting ‘Time’s up”. This was one of many nods to both the modern equality movement and modern culture in general.

As we learned over the course of the evening (you will do a whole lot of learning), there were divisions within the movement, particularly between Sylvia and Cristabel.  Sylvia questioned the use of violence to further the cause and the exclusion of working class women from receiving the vote.  This class division is something that arguably still plagues the equality movement now. Several times I was reminded that full female empowerment and autonomy continues to be a battleground today.

The disagreements among the Pankhursts escalate to the point where Sylvia is expelled by Cristabel and goes on to start the East London Federation of Suffragettes. It is just as well that the story unfolds this way as only when we reached this part did I begin understand why on earth is the musical is called Sylvia.

This show boasts a very talented cast! On the night we saw Maria Omakinwa covering the lead role, as the leading lady was ill. And even though this required her to have script in hand for the second half, I thought she did really well. Delroy Atkinson who played Churchill was infinitely watchable. Carly Bawden who played Churchill’s wife Clementine was delightful; managing to sing with dripping sarcasm!  And Jade Hackett’s turn as Churchill’s mother Lady Jennie, was a crowd favourite; dabbing her way off the stage to rapturous applause. All supported by an excellent band.  Sylvia is an energetic piece of theatre and I have to commend the cast for their stamina. The production culminates in a rousing finale reminding us to continue to march and strive for change. And march we certainly must! Even as a work in progress, I would still see this again.

I still don’t like musicals. But you can catch Sylvia at the Old Vic till 22nd Sept 2018.