Writer: Neil Gore
Director: Louise Townsend
Townsend Theatre Productions are an unashamedly political organisation, consisting of Louise Townsend and Neil Gore. Occasionally they may deal with a classic of socialist fiction such as The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, but for the most part their themes are taken from factual stories of working class and trade union life. As a result they may be seen as swimming against the tide in 2025 – which is why this revival of We Are The Lions, Mr Manager!, an improved version of the 2017 play, is touring the UK now.
In 1976 six workers at the Grunwick Film Processing Laboratory walked out, generally in protest at the conditions, but specifically because of demands that they work unpaid overtime. Their leader was Jayaben Desai, born in India, who arrived in Britain via East Africa. Initially she looked to join a union which was achieved with the help of the late Jack Dromey of the Brent Trades Council, later an M.P. Many of the strikers, now much more numerous, became members of APEX which recognised the strike as official. For the next two years the strike continued, with, on the one side, consistent picketing with occasional mass pickets, support from post office workers refusing to deliver mail to Grunwick and hunger strikes and, on the other, sackings, bussing in of strike breakers, the National Association for Freedom (NAFF) introducing Operation Pony Express and management ignoring Lord Scarman’s report favourable to strikers. Ultimately the strike ended in failure, with the TUC unable to commit fully and the ACAS report declared invalid by the Appeal Court.
The issues raised by the Grunwick dispute still resonate today. Apart from the generally poor conditions and management opposition to unionism, this was a dispute involving attitudes to immigrants and women in work. Mrs Desai proved that stereotypes of Asian women no longer held good. In a stunning performance Rukmini Sircar conveys her remarkable character, from the slightly naive person arriving in London to the politely unresponsive victim of Malcolm Alden’s would-be jocularity to the woman of fixed principles developing into a formidable orator.
She is well supported by Neil Gore as Jack Dromey, but also as caricatured impersonations of Alden, the Grunwick manager, and John Gouriet of NAFF, slimily conducting an interview with George Ward, the boss of Grunwick (also voiced by Gore). Townsend Productions may be small, but they are up to the mark on technology – and also in the presentation of the evidence in film and written form before the start.
The music, too, draws on a variety of sources – two fine songs by Leon Rosselson, Jack Warshaw’s Hold the Line Again and many others, all performed by Gore – with choirs around the country (at Scarborough, Whitby Community Choir) joining in the singing. The set up is informal (Gore amiably selling programmes, Sircar going round the audience giving out torches), but the show is skilfully integrated to bring in these disparate elements.
The qualities that made Mrs Desai such a significant figure whom Rukmini Sircar embodies so vividly – the dislike of violence, the pursuit of equality, the willingness to stand up for her rights with unwavering commitment – are qualities that are as much needed today as in 1976.
Reviewed on 22nd October 2025. On tour of the UK.
