Review: Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World (The Other Palace)

Review by Sam Waite

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While working on her book Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World, Kate Pankhurst aimed to share the stories not only of the well-known female pioneers throughout history, but also those who were less widely discussed. She also discovered that the name was no coincidence, and that Suffragette icon Emmeline Pankhurst was a distant relation. Returning to the London stage at The Other Palace, Fantastically Great Women’s musical adaptation continues to charm, to delight, and to educate.

11 (nearly 12!) year old Jade always feels forgotten, and that feeling seems truer than even when a run back to the bus for one student’s epi-pen and tissues for another's bloody nose ends up with her unable to find the rest of her school trip. Alone, upset, and incredibly curious, she ends up sneaking into the not-yet-finished “Gallery of Greatness”, where she comes face to face with brilliant women from throughout history and across fields – pilots, scientists, athletes, activists, and survivors who changed the world in their own ways, and are more than willing to guide a little girl on her own journey towards greatness.

Adapted by Chris Bush, Pankhurst’s story is completely charming, the kind of educational entertainment classics of family theatre have long been built on. Where the sheer volume of fantastic women introduced can strain our attention spans, all are well-understood and given clear and informed introductions, and any surface level exploration can be forgiven, this being a story told to (and perhaps imagined by) a child. Bush and Miranda Cooper’s lyrics are quick-fire but easy to keep track of, balancing catchy choruses with history lessons via rhyming couplets, while Cooper and Jennifer Decilveo offer bouncy, immediately infectious compositions. My personal favourite, “Mary, Mary, and Marie” (Anning, Seacole, and Curie) mimics old-school superhero theme songs, with the requisite chanting and heroic posturing, and embedding itself deep in my brain a full day later.

A live three-piece band play overhead, made up of Nicola T. Chang, Isis Dunthorne and Audra Cramer. All three play with the passion these stories deserve, and Chang, whose work is seen elsewhere as sound designer for the Donmar’s Skeleton Crew, even gets a delightful moment joining the cast on stage for some inventive percussion. Zoe Spurr’s lighting keeps the musical numbers squarely in pop concert territory, providing electrifying displays and spotlighting the performers. There are moments early on, particularly at the beginning of certain numbers, where the sound design (courtesy of Carolyn Downing and Robe Bettle) seems slightly out of balance, the speaking pumping out the infectious beats just a bit too loud for those nearest to catch the wordplay, but this would always settle quickly and cease to be an issue as fast as it had happened.

Leading the cast, Georgia Grant-Anderson is remarkable as Jade, brimming with all the open-minded curiosity of childhood, and showcases a stellar voice which bounces between girlish sweetness and a deeper, surprisingly mature vocal quality. Her acting is also wonderful, demonstrating a clear understanding of the kind of informational programming that clearly influenced Fantastically Great Women. The supporting cast are roundly strong, rotating between various roles over the rapid-fire 80 minutes, each doing well in all of their parts but being particularly memorable in certain ones. Charlotte Jaconelli, for example, is especially funny in the seeming bit part of Jane Austen, flexing gorgeous operatic vocals while finding great humour in how little Jane actually does in comparison to many of the other characters.

Meg Hately gets in some particularly fun moments as Agent Fifi, superbly and master of disguise, tying together her roles as Emmeline Pankhurst and one of Jade’s teachers with quick shifts creating a reality where any woman _could\ be Fifi in disguise. Bringing passion and energy to a great artist, Elena Brechi dazzles as Frida Kahlo, revelling in the beauty of adding your own touch of colour to the world around you. But perhaps the most powerful moment, including a rare moment of slow introspection in her performance of “Rosa’s Lament”, Anelisa Lamola brings the requisite grace and dignity to Rosa Parks, stripping back the bombast of her more outwardly dynamic roles to explore a richer, more deeply human take on this particular great woman.

Director Amy Hodge handles this transition in tone nicely, giving it the air of a pause, a catch breath where Jade can sit and digest all that she has learned. So electric is the atmosphere Hodge has crafted, so rapid is Bush’s adaptation of Pankhurt’s work, that this moment of genuine clarity comes all the more powerful – when Rosa explains the simple truth, that she wasn't the first or the last to refuse to give up her seat, the moment has been staged with enough conviction for the point to genuinely land. Rosa is no less an essential figure because she was doing what others had done before her, and the show wants not to minimise what she achieved, but to clarify the roles of those who's contributions still go unrecognised.

A fabulous way to educate everyone from small children to those old enough to remember some of these figures in their prime, Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World is worthy of praise, and certainly deserving of attention. While not all nuances of these stories are given equal time, it seems implicit that the musical is meant more as a starting point, encouraging further research, than a tell-all exploration of even just the women Jade encounters. Family-friendly, inspirational presented, and with a poppy score of catchy, easy to love songs, Fantastically Great Women may just be London’s most energetic history lesson.

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World plays at The Other Palace until September 8th

For tickets and information visit https://theotherpalace.co.uk/fantastically-great-women/

Photos by Ellie Kurttz