Review - Red Ellen - Northern Stage

Red Ellen 
Northern Stage 
6th April 2022 

Red Ellen Is a political play, written by Caroline Bird and Directed by Wils Wilson, based on Ellen Wilkinson’s life as an mp and a political activist. Her famous support of the Jarrow march in 1936. Born in 1891, this play tracks her political rise and fall covering the duration of both world wars, right until her untimely death. 

The staging of this production is top class, the transitions near seamless and the story telling is also top notch, as is the acting. Good use of sounds and even a bit of musical theatre thrown in. I loved the pyrotechnics too, very well used. 

The story covers Ellen being torn between her party the labour party and the communist party and their thinly disguised anti war effort in order to benefit Stalin and Russia. Another interesting war going on is the war of the left and all the infighting, which continues today in the labour party and leftist politics in general. 

The timing of this play is absolutely perfect. Only months ago this play would be viewed solely under the banner of nostalgia for a bygone era. However as of writing there is a war raging on between Russia and Ukraine and the world is very much sitting on the sidewalk looking in as it was before the start of the second world war. Hopefully life will not repeat itself, but as we see in this play, things can quickly turn to war, very easily. 

This play is very funny, whilst also being deadly serious in places. Ellen is often highly emotive and sometimes even sexually charged. The embodiment of female empowerment, yet simultaneously exposing the casual sexism at the time, even from her various lovers. Ellen comes across as someone naïve and a bit of a slave to her ego, even if ultimately her heart was in the right place. At points torn between advocating for pacifism and action, two seemingly opposing forces. 

Writer Caroline states that the first draft was five hours long and even in the trimmed down over two hour production, it does feel a little overlong in places, especially where there are prolonged period of high drama and high jinx, but overall there are no acts that didn’t belong in there.  The audience loved it. 

I loved a few quotes from the play, such as “don’t let the bastards get you down” and my favourite “there’s nothing like politics to make you hate people” too true.

Red Ellen is playing at the northern stage until Saturday April the 9th.

Also playing at : 

Nottingham Playhouse 13th April - 30th April

Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh 4th May - 21st May

York Theatre Royal 24th May - 28th May 

Frank C Murphy