Four star review of Mikron production Jennie Lee

Jennie Lee was a truly remarkable woman. Born into a working-class family in Fife in 1904, aged just 24 she was elected as Labour MP for North Lanark, becoming the youngest woman ever elected to Parliament, quite a feat given that at the time women under 30 didn’t even have the vote.

The latest production from Marsden-based theatre company Mikron, Jennie Lee is written by award-winning playwright Lindsay Rodden and celebrates the extraordinary life and career of a woman whose many achievements have been somewhat overshadowed by her marriage in 1934 to Welsh politician and NHS founder Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan.

Lee certainly deserves to be known for more than simply being Bevan’s wife and here she rightly gets her own moment in the spotlight as four talented actor-musicians – Eddie Ahrens, Lauren Robinson, Mark Emmons and Georgina Liley – tell her fascinating story. We first meet her at the age of eight when her parents are running a boarding house for actors appearing at the nearby music hall. She meets a variety of colourful characters and discovers a love for performance, which she would use to her advantage later in life as a powerful and passionate public speaker.

Growing up in a socialist household as a bright, inquisitive child with parents who provided her with books and ideas and believed in the value of education, she became a committed advocate for social justice which played out in everything she did.

We learn about her fantastically confident and outspoken maiden speech in the House of Commons criticising the chancellor Winston Churchill’s budget proposals, her campaigning work as a journalist including reporting on the Spanish Civil War, her advocacy for the accessibility of art for everyone as Minister for Arts in Harold Wilson’s government and her involvement in the establishment of the Open University.

The performances are all very strong, with Robinson capturing Lee at various stages in her life, and the rest of the cast playing a variety of characters with just a change of a hat, item of costume or the addition of a prop – a handbag for Margaret Thatcher, a pipe for Harold Wilson, a fabulous 1970s kipper tie for an Open University TV presenter.

It is all presented with a lot of energy, humour, wonderful musicianship and rousing songs. It’s a production that reflects and honours Jennie Lee’s unwavering commitment to the betterment of ordinary working people’s lives – and it does her proud.

Touring to community venues around Yorkshire until October. mikron.org.uk