Gemma Arterton Plays Lead in MADE IN DAGENHAM Workshop; Production Aims for West End 2013-14?

According to the Daily Mail, Gemma Arterton played the lead role of "Rita" in a workshop production of the musical adaptation of the film Made In Dagenham. There is not yet a London theater or deal drawn up for a full production, but the Mail reports that Arterton has expressed her "keenness to move ahead with the project." The show is aiming to take the stage in about a year.

Read the original report here.

The film originally starred Sally Hawkins as a machinist in Ford's Dagenham factory who ends up picketing the plant to end sexual discrimination and demand for equal pay in the late 1960s.

Rupert Goold directed the musical workshop. Made In Dagenham's creative team also includes book writer Richard Bean, composer David Arnold and lyricist Richard Thomas.

Arterton made her West End debut in The Little Dog Laughed in 2010. The actress last appeared on the big screen in Quantum of Solace opposite Daniel Craig. Her other film and television credits include St. Trinian's, Clash of the Titans, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The Disappearance of Alice Creed, Lost in Austen, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Tamara Drewe. 

Photo credit: Simon Annand