Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World – The Lowry, Salford and Touring

Leah Vassell and Georgia Grant-Anderson in Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World at The Lowry, Salford and Touring. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World was reviewed at The Lowry, Salford. The production tours until 16 March 2023.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

This musical adaptation of Kate Pankhurst’s much-loved children’s book saluting inspirational, and often overlooked, women from history has gained a well-deserved following since it debuted at MAST Mayflower Studios in Southampton in 2021.

Now on its second UK tour, its winning mix of catchy tunes and entertainingly relayed biographical information – all delivered within a pacy 80-minute running time – ensures it should entertain young audiences, and their parents, for many more incarnations to come.

In format and execution, the shadow of similarly themed pop/history mash-up Six looms large (perhaps unsurprisingly, considering it shares some of its producers). Other influences are also writ large – opening number ‘Quiet Children’, featuring four of the six-strong cast as hectored and distracted teachers, is reminiscent of Matilda. The show’s premise, with overlooked schoolchild Jade left alone in a museum during a school trip and encountering exhibits who have magically sprung to life, is taken straight from the Ben Stiller Night at the Museum films. While the trick of marrying historical figures to parodies of contemporary pop tunes was done first by CBBC’s Horrible Histories – a show to which Six also owes a huge debt.

But despite all that familiarity, this show has enough wit and energy to stand on its own. Chris Bush’s adaptation also takes the themes of Pankhurst’s book, and its positive messages about girls achieving their dreams despite being told that they can’t, and delivers a show that manages to be inspiration without being preachy.

It also doesn’t shy away from the harsh reality and unfortunate fates of some of the historical figures it tells the stories of, such as radiation pioneer Marie Cure who was ultimately poisoned by her own discovery. It also isn’t afraid to take gambles – having Rosa Parks serenading Anne Frank with a song about not giving up (‘Rosa’s Lullaby’) could be a mawkish misfire but ends up giving the show its most uplifting and emotional moment.

In this compactly staged new touring production, directed with verve by Amy Hodge, much of this is due to the energetic and enthusiastic way the committed cast sell the material. As schoolgirl Jade, Georgia Grant-Anderson might not have the strongest of singing voices, but she convincingly conveys the character’s self-doubt and insecurities and her joy as she bounces off and takes inspiration from the various real-life figures she encounters.

The rest of a multi-tasking cast portray these characters with a distinctive aplomb. Six alumni Jennifer Caldwell stands out in a variety of roles but is most impactful as a forthright, no-nonsensely Northern Emmeline Pankhurst, complete with a purple band leader’s uniform reminiscent of Cheryl Cole’s iconic ‘Fight For this Love’ outfit, one of a number of striking costumes from designer Joanna Scotcher. With its schoolyard chants and marching-band percussion, Pankhurst’s song, ‘Deeds Not Words’, is the most distinctive of Bush, Miranda Cooper and Jennifer Decilveo’s tuneful songs. Elsewhere, an onstage, four-strong band of keyboard players and drummers bring the score to propulsive life. Nowhere is this more evident than in the infectiously catchy Latin rhythms that drive Frida Kahlo’s song ‘World of Colour’, led by Elena Breschi’s quirkily funny turn as the eccentric artistic genius.

Chris Bartlett