This is a highly ambitious musical that seeks to shed light on the history of Redditch, a Midlands town that was responsible for Britain’s needle trade in the 19th century. The show portrays the effect of the dangerous work of the needle trade on one of Redditch’s families through the generations. It all sounds a little like a history textbook, and this lets the musical down. Writer and director Cathy Moss has chosen to use a voiceover technique to narrate between scenes, but Tim Merridew’s voice is so monotonous and so like an uninterested history teacher reading to his class that it drew a palpable sigh from the audience every time it was heard.
Once I learned to ignore this flaw, it was easy to appreciate all the wonderful things about this show. The music is upbeat and rocky, with great power behind the beautifully harmonized ensemble numbers, although some solos suffered from occasional pitch problems. Some powerful lyrics came through, especially in the duets. Much of the direction was well considered and effective; all of the actors had strong spatial awareness whether they were downstage or in the background of the scene. However, some of the songs had choreography which appeared highly amateur, and was danced without conviction. Furthermore, the songs don’t always propel the narrative and are sometimes too long and repetitive without contributing to the trajectory of the show. Obvious thought and effort had been put into costumes and props, which brought the story to life with their detail. The projection of various images onto the back curtain was also highly effective, adding a sense of history that the narrator failed to provide.
Of particular note are Daniel Summers’ performance as violent needle pointer Seth, and Sophie Thompson’s emotive portrayal of his wife Sally, haunted by a lost love and never sure of her own feelings. Summers had huge stage presence and confidence, owning the stage and never once wavering out of character. He and Thompson had rich, sonorous voices with wonderfully controlled vibrato, and their times on stage together were particularly strong. Thompson had a deep understanding of her character and conveyed it very well. It is a great shame that some of the most important moments in her story are narrated by the voiceover instead of through dialogue and action. Sally’s love affair with Thomas would have been much more emotive if we could have seen them fall in love rather than hearing it from backstage. Overall, this is a strong show that deserves an audience, but has a few major flaws it can’t quite recover from.
