Review: WOW AT 15, Royal Albert Hall

The global movement and charity WOW (Women of the World) is now in its 15th year. To mark the occasion, WOW held a special evening to celebrate International Women's Day on Saturday 8 March.

Founded by Jude Kelly in 2010, WOW aims to build a gender-equal world, through festivals, events and other initiatives that celebrate women, girls and non-binary people, and discuss solutions for change. 

The evening was hosted by Kelly herself, speaking with stars such as Annie Lennox, Sandi Toksvig, Anoushka Shankar, Errollyn Wallen CBE, Jordan Stephens and Liz Carr. Performances from Shankar, organists Anna Lapwood and Rachel Mahon, and a 150 strong intergenerational choir promised a night to remember.

The reality was more mixed. Annie Lennox is a dream guest and the promise was that she would share her vision for the future and insights from founding the global feminist charity, The Circle. As it happened, the charity was not really mentioned and I had to look up that her t-shirt slogan of 'Global Feminist' was from the charity. Subjects such as her masculine look being a symbol of power on stage and her passion for womens' rights was not interrogated. It was an unfocused and meandering interview that Lennox seemed to attribute to her newly diagnosed ADHD.

The panel of Sandi Toksvig, Anoushka Shankar, Errollyn Wallen CBE, Jordan Stephens and Liz Carr held so much interest and potential for in-depth discussion. Unfortunately, they were given just five minutes each and so Toksvig's new project about a Wikipedia for women, Shankar's revelations of sexual abuse, Wallen's incredible professional achievements, Stephens's errudite observations on modern masculinty and Carr's fascinating views on the Assisted Suicide Bill were, very sadly, only hinted at.

Legendary activist Angela Davis was the headline act, although the over-long evening overan so much that many had to leave throughout her interview to catch their trains. The audience was excited at her presence and Davis was thoughtful, but also rather unfocused, with little in terms of truly inspiring content. Her support for Palestine got the biggest positive reaction, as she states that ignoring any oppressed group, ignores the struggles for all women, but her intriguing comparison of Zionism and McCarthyism was not expanded upon. Davis also questions the ideology that made certain groups vote for Trump, but she was not pressed to explore. 

The irony of Davis's famously socialist beliefs being discussed at an evening heavily sponsored by the capitalist titans of Bloomburg and Standard Chartered was also not lost.

The highlights of the night were the live music. Including a performance by eleven-time Grammy-nominated composer, activist, and sitarist Anoushka Shankar was simply breathtaking with her rendition of "Stolen Moments" before the interval. There were also two vibrant world-premieres by celebrated composers Errollyn Wallen and Isobel Waller-Bridge, featuring organists Anna Lapwood and Rachel Mahon, and 150 strong intergenerational choir. 

Over the past 15 years, WOW has done incredible work and has built a global movement reaching more than 5 million people across six continents. I have been to several other WOW events and this particular evening seemed like a bit of missed opportunity to continue that energy and momentum.

Click here for more information on WOW.

Image Credit: Royal Albert Hall