Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace, Byzantium) is headed to London’s West End to star in a musical adaptation of Made in Dagenham, the 2010 British drama about 1960s seamstresses fighting for equal pay. The film, which starred Sally Hawkins, was based on the historical campaigns that led to the UK’s Equal Pay Act in 1970.
Upon its release, Maclean’s praised Made in Dagenham as “a purely feminist film that feels like a combination of Milk and Mad Men — an honest look at the role of women in the ’60s, working overtime, cooking supper, fighting for civil rights and getting the kids off to school while their husbands sleep on the couch. It’s a film that blatantly condemns sexism and shows, despite its mostly light tone, the real cost of fighting for civil rights.
Arterton commented on her new role, “It’s an important story that I’m passionate about telling, and we intend to tell it with wit, warmth and, of course, a lot of singing and dancing in this production.”
The musical will preview in October and open in November. Maybe this will be the next Billy Elliot.
[h/t The Guardian]
