'Be the change that you want to see
Be the change for you and me’
This revolutionary story celebrates the life of Sylvia Pankhurst – feminist, activist, pacifist, socialist, rebel – the lesser-known Pankhurst at the heart of the Suffragette movement, who changed the lives of working women and men across the world.
Following its 2018 run as a work-in-progress, Kate Prince’s Sylvia is back where it all began for its world premiere, uniting dance, hip hop, funk and soul to shine a light on a remarkable moment in history, with original music by Josh Cohen and DJ Walde.
Beverley Knight will not perform on:
Mon 27–Tue 28 Feb
Mon 6–Tue 7 Mar
Mon 13–Tue 14 Mar
All performances from Mon 20–Tue 28 Mar
Access Performances
Audio Described: Thu 9 Mar 7.30pm
Captioned: Fri 3 Mar 7:30pm
Zoo Nation's Kate Prince is ostensibly a choreographer and director, but this show also features her lyrics and book, written with Priya Parmar. This is the crux of the show's weakness; it simply tries to fit too much in. It is odd that the show spends a few scant minutes on the time leading up to everyone receiving the vote in 1928, but languishes on Sylvia's relationship with Keir Hardie and overlong lampooning of a hen-pecked Churchill. Although thoughtfully staged, it is also hard to shed a tear at the death of Sylvia's brother when he is an unknown character.
Sylvia is the show that came back from the dead. When it was presented at the Old Vic five years ago, the project suffered multiple crises and opened as a work-in-progress. Prince, founder of the ZooNation dance troupe, subsequently described herself as “embarrassed and out of my depth”. Now after rewrites the piece has been pared from three hours to just over two and a half. It’s still messy, but the good news is that the soul singer Beverley Knight returns in the role of Emmeline. Her voice, when you get to hear it, remains spine-tingling. There just isn’t enough of it.
2018 | West End |
Old Vic Theatre Original Production West End |
2023 | West End |
West End |
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