A huge thanks to the members of Arletty Theatre for their
engaging and moving performance of ‘Swan Canaries’ by Imogen Joyce. I saw the play at Lowdham Village Hall. As I entered the hall with the popular song
of the era ‘Hold Your Hand Out, Naughty Boy’ in full swing I had the urge to
take my school cap off and adopt a suitably sheepish manner; luckily it was
over 60 years too late. The actors were
already in role and in overalls mingling with the audience who were tensing-up wondering
what they were in for:
Ria Ashcroft and Hannah Stone
We were in for a memorable hour and a half of sad, tragic,
yet at times funny entertainment. In the first half a new worker Polly Barton
(played by Hannah Stone) was briefed by the team leader Mary McGuire/Ria Ashcroft
about the dangers and hard work to expect as a production-line worker in a WW1
munitions factory. The play is based on
events at The Chilwell Munitions Factory in Nottingham. The set was minimalist with the actors
entering and leaving the ‘stage’ round a large white backcloth screen. The inter-play between the four women workers
as they mimed the task of packing explosives into shells involved family
connections, worries about loved one’s in battle, japes and audience sing-along
songs to keep them going. A right old
knees-up, but potential attendees shouldn’t panic the pressure wasn’t on.
After the interval, the death a loved one on the front (in Ypres
or wherever, not in the village Hall; we didn’t drift into Agatha Christie
territory) and the 1918 explosion in the Factory killing 25 women was
harrowingly potrayed. The concerns of
the workers about women’s role in the workplace post WW1 also came into
question.
Don’t miss this play there are several performances ahead in
various locations around the county:
