RIDING along in the wake of its smash hit sister Six (which appeared here at the Playhouse in early 2020 during a pre-West-End tour) Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World is an adaptation of the award winning children’s book of the same name, from Liverpool –raised author Kate Pankhurst.
A three piece band sits atop the stacked packing cases of a new Gallery of Greatness under construction in a museum. Disillusioned teenager Jade has broken away from a school party and sneaks into the unopened gallery, where she goes on an adventure, meeting the women whose achievements are to be celebrated there.
Éva-Marie Saffrey gives a stunning central performance as Jade (the role is shared with 3 other young actors at alternate performances) made all the more impressive for the fact that she is barely offstage throughout the show’s unbroken 75 minute span.
She is joined by Jade Kennedy, Frances Mayli McCann, Christina Modestou and Renée Lamb, who bring to life no less than 12 influential women, some of whom will be better known than others, but all of them had a significant impact on the role and rights of women in the modern world.
Packing so many characters into a one-act show has the double effect of cutting their stories short and necessitating extended passages of dialogue. It’s probably for this reason that the piece feels less like the wall-to-wall music of Six. Nonetheless, the musical numbers certainly deliver big-time on the promised kickass front, with outstanding backing from the band and really great vocals from the entire cast.
The anthem that everyone will be singing on the way home will certainly be the powerful Deeds Not Words, which is quite a showstopper. Probably the most memorable part of the show however is a scene close to the end featuring Rosa Parks and Anne Frank, which has some of the most moving dialogue.
The show has its own advice for itself – the only improvement that could be made would be more deeds and fewer words. It either needs to be expanded to give it more time to tell the women’s stories musically, or perhaps (and this would be sad) to cut some of the characters, because its only flaw is trying to tell a lot of big, important stories in too short a time.
But this is only a small reservation with a family show that is bound to be a big hit. These are lives that need to be celebrated, and history was rarely retold with so much heart and passion.
Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World runs at the Playhouse till 2nd January before continuing its tour, with six further venues already confirmed.
Star rating – 4 stars
Review by Nigel Smith
