Crude Apache
"Crude Apache have created a show that, by delving into local history, makes us also think about workers’ rights today. Bravo!"
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the arrival of the Scottish Lassies on the South Quay at Great Yarmouth and the North Denes at Lowestoft in order to fillet and cure the herrings was as much a part of the local economy as would become East European fruit pickers in pre-Brexit Lincolnshire. It was smelly and unpleasant work, and it needed speed, skill and precision to process each and every fish on the day of landing.
'We Will Stand' is an account of how, in 1936, a group of these girls, aided by local trade unions and campaigners inspired by the Sufragette movement, took strike action to demand an increase in their pay and conditions. This was taken in the face of a declining fleet and a severely reduced export of cured herring to Germany and Russia (two of the biggest markets before the outbreak of World War I). The solidarity of the Yarmouth Lassies with their colleagues in Lowestoft was a key factor in the success of their action, and it is this story that is told, and celebrated in Crude Apache's latest production.
Written and directed by Panda Monium, and with songs written by Tim Lane, 'We Will Stand' is a piece of outdoor community theatre that reinforces Norwich's reputation as being a socially aware, as well as vibrant and exciting. city of culture in which to live. Following hot on the heels of The Common Lot's 'Songs of Hope and Protest', 'We Will Stand' drew an impressively large audience on Friday evening into what appeared to be the remains of an old bowling green, itself esconced within Heigham Park, a public space surrounded by what has recently become known as the city's 'Golden Triangle'.
OK, so it may have been a million minging miles away from the stench of Great Yarmouth's South Quay in the 1930's but, within the confines of the pleasant greenery of Heigham Park, Crude Apache performed a stirling job in transporting us back to those tortuous thirties, and the plight of those early migrant workers.
If I am going to be constructive in my criticism, then this is a show that relies heavily on its dialogue. It needs to concentrate the direction to ensure that the cast are positioned to maximise their vocal projection. Even though the audience were impeccably attentive, those at the back may have struggled at times to hear all of the lines (and an unexpected fly-pass by the air ambulance during a crucial plot development did not help). But this is a minor, and perhaps unfair, criticism of an outdoor show performed in a non-auditorium space.
'We Will Stand' is a testament to those early actions to campaign for sexual equality and rights for itinerant workers, and also presents a piece of social history that many of us in Norwich, less than thirty miles away from the East Coast, may have known little about. With it, Crude Apache have managed to produce a show that, once again, enlightens, educates, and entertains its target audience. Bravo!
