Musical Theatre Academy – Dangerous Daughters

Dangerous Daughters, performed by student from the Musical Theatre Academy (MTA), continues at the Bridewell Theatre until 16 September.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Premiered in 2010 by the MTA’s inaugural intake, Dangerous Daughters (writer Nick Stimson, composed Annemarie Lewis Thomas) is a show which has matured and developed. And it’s both interesting – and a theatrical treat – to see it brought to life again, seven years on, by this year’s 19 graduates.

Stimson’s engaging narrative focuses on the Pankhurst family: Emmeline (Lydia Gardiner), her three daughters: Christabel (Georgina Young), Sylvia (Katy Southgate), Adela (Alex Mellors) and son Harry (Robbie Noonan). The wider political issues are explored via the family dynamic which is often pretty tense and tragic.

It’s an ideal show for a performing arts college with more female than male students because, of course, it’s a piece about women and women’s issues so there are plenty of small roles for performers who can emerge from and then rejoin the ensemble – thoughtful, intelligent acting for instance from Ella Shipley as the Ragged Woman and a nice moment of physical theatre from Ericka Posadas as Emily Wilding Davison disappears under the horses’ hooves.

Katy Southgate is tall, imperious and troubled as the artistic Sylvia – a convincing performance.

Georgina Young finds real depth in Christabel who suppresses her ‘sapphic’ feelings for factory girl Annie Kenney (Laura Kent) because she believes that duty must come first. Kent is a fine actor too, creating a character who loves life and pulses with energy but is also doomed to loss and unhappiness.

Robbie Noonan finds insouciance and diffidence in Harry, the often forgotten younger Pankhurst brother. There’s some strong work with Emily Lyons who plays Helen Craggs with whom he falls in love.

Annemarie Lewis Thomas, who also MDs and leads the six-piece band, has provided tuneful accessible music for all of this including some good marches for the militant bits with plenty of trumpet.

There a plenty of lyrical moments too including a pretty love quartet ably sung by two would-be couples: Young and Kent with Lyons and Noonan.

Dangerous Daughters is, though, primarily an ensemble show and it works well as such. The movement is slick (director/choreographer is Racky Plews) and makes excellent use of the Bridewell’s extensive playing space.

And I fell in love with the costumes – the dresses, brown with corseted waists, and topped with stunning hats are a real tour-de-force from designer Stewart Charlesworth

All in all this is a very pleasing, satisfying, quite stylish piece of theatre which deserves more outings. It is now published and available for amateur and professional licensing. A percentage of the royalty income from this will go into the MTA hardship fund.

Susan Elkin