‘We Are The Lions, Mr Manager’ is the story of super-exploited workers in London at the Grunwick film processing factory strike of 1976 to 1978 and the inspirational strike leader Jayaben Desai.
Most were migrant Asian women. They demanded trade union recognition and the reinstatement of sacked colleagues.
David Maples spoke to actor Rukmini Sircar, and actor, writer and Socialist Party member Neil Gore, about Townsend Productions’ new play ‘We Are the Lions, Mr Manager’.
Why are you reviving a play about a strike 50 years ago?
Neil: We produced it originally for the 40th anniversary and so we’re reviving it for the 50th anniversary. It felt the time was right. It’s good that it’s the 50th anniversary so we can commemorate the strike. It’s good to do that, but it’s also a very appropriate time to do it with the period having so many similarities.
The landscape is similar in lots of ways with the economic downturns, with Labour governments, with the rise of the far right — the National Front in the early mid 70s and now with other formations. The state of the nation is pretty similar.
The show has a lot of things to say about now. As much as you know the history in terms of immigration, politics, trade unions, it is masterful. That’s why we’re reviving it, as a means to talk about today’s precedents.
Rukmini, you play one of the strikers, can you tell us a little bit about it?
Rukmini: Yes, I’m playing Jayaben Desai. She spearheaded the strike. She became the face of the strike so her story is very interesting. Essentially she’s a housewife, a mother who is working to support her family. She’s just arrived from Africa and her background is very interesting.
You wouldn’t think that someone like her could spearhead such a big movement and garner so much support, and pull so many different forces into action but she does. There’s a leader in her that just emerges and she picks it up and she leads these people. She’s iconic, this South Asian woman heading this trade union movement is such a powerful image and she provides that platform for women like her.
Neil, you get to play Mr Manager…
Neil: I play Malcolm Holden who was the manager in question who kind of started this whole event really. It is complete ineptitude but he started it and it snowballed to became a massive moment in British trade union history. It became one of the biggest events in a century.
He was responsible for it really but he wasn’t expecting that. Asian women were seen as weak, quiet and obedient and so on. He didn’t expect a fight back.
I also play lots of other characters. I play Jack Dromey from the TGWU union who later became a Labour MP. I also play a fellow called John Gouriet from the National Association for Freedom. They were a right-wing think tank full of military types and land owners and that sort of thing. They were advising the management about how best to break strikes and how to get one over on the trade union movement by using the courts and the legal system. So they play a quite a big role in the story. There’s lots of elements to it.
I’m very busy!
Townsend Productions are known for their creative approaches so what can we look forward to in this production?
Neil: Well there’s a lot of music involved in the show. We’ve become more technically savvy so we were able to present big stories with talented actors but also with the use of technology. There’s music, sound and projection which helps the storytelling.
The telling of the story is very creative because the sense of a mass movement is generated through the audience. We’ve got more recently to inviting friends and choirs to come and join us. They join us at various points and help bolster not just the picket line but the sound and the connection with our audiences.
- We Are The Lions Mr Manager tours nationally from 11 October. More details from townsendproductions.org.uk