This bold version of the life of Sylvia Pankhurst and the Suffragette movement is visually and vocally stunning – but not without its flaws.
Centred on the middle child of Emmeline Pankhurst, Katie Prince takes the story of votes for women and shakes it up into a contemporary retelling with rap, funk and soul.
Ben Stones’ set is a flexible canvas with an amphitheatre around the edges of the stage and a screen at the back, which merges Andrzjez Golding’s animations with the action: it’s a rare successful use of projection that feels integral rather than cost-cutting, with a visual coherence that immerses you in the story.
But the real attraction is the vocals. Beverley Knight inevitably draws the attention in her role as the matriarch at the heart of the movement, and gets possibly more stage time than the titular lead. Her vocals are spot on, and she owns the stage.
She can’t eclipse Naomi Katiyo as Sylvia though. Katiyo brings a delicateness to early scenes, growing in stature gradually as her character grows more comfortable with herself, blooming and confident towards the end. Her delivery has natural power: it’s a delight to hear someone that can actually sing, not talent show warbling dressed up as emotion.
They are surrounded by more talent, particularly Ellena Vincent as Christabel Pankhurst and Eloise Davies as her sister Adela, making up the main trio. The ensemble are full of energy, and set pieces like the Black Friday march – with a line of protestors and of police synced in suggested combat – are expertly enacted.
For the most part, Josh Cohen and DJ Walde’s soundtrack spans the genres successfully, although there is inevitably a bit of ‘cool history teacher’ vibe when Prince’s lyrics have to shoehorn in exposition and the relevant vocabulary. “Suffrage, suffrage, suffrage – yeah!” is not the greatest line ever written.
There are also some other odd choices in the book, which makes for some uneven moments alongside topics like prison force feeding and the infamous death of Emily Davison following the Epsom Derby. Portraying Churchill as a cartoon villain is reasonable dramatic licence, but playing his mother as a screeching Caribbean auntie is just downright odd.
Similarly I can understand it felt funny to slide in aural jokes like Montell Jordan’s This Is How We Do It and KRS One’s Sound of da Police during the writing process, but it feels a little cheap alongside the creativity of the rest of the show. These, and some other moments, could have been dropped to ease the near-three hour show length.
It’s great to see this important political story told with such vigour, and Knight and Katiyo make it extremely watchable. Standing up against the retreads and remakes that make up a lot of modern musicals, it gets my vote.
- Sylvia is at Norwich Theatre Royal until Saturday 31 October 2026, tickets £19,08-£67.84, then touring nationally.