Box Office: 01379 652241

DISS • NORFOLK

Rouse Ye Women!

Production Company: Townsend Theatre Productions
Venue: The Corn Hall

A folk ballad opera by Neil Gore and John Kirkpatrick 

The story of Mary Macarthur and her fight to improve the lives of millions of working women.

Women chainmakers in the Black Country in the 1900s started work at the forge as children and spent their entire lives making chains.

These ‘Slaves of the Forge’ worked long hours and earned the equivalent of 50 pence per week. But in 1910 the women chain-makers of Cradley Heath held a 10 week strike led by Mary Macarthur; a ‘Great Unrest’ that led to a landmark victory for a fair wage and changed the lives of thousands of workers earning ‘starvation wages’.

‘The Great Unrest’ is a folk-song opera that tells the story of Mary Macarthur and the chainmakers, and shares the story of the lives of the workers and campaigners through rousing, heart-felt traditional song and music.

Recommended age 11+

If you have access issues please contact the Box Office on 01379 652241 to complete your booking so we can ensure that your visit is as comfortable and safe as possible. Due to fire safety requirements we have a limit on how many wheelchair spaces we can accommodate so these need to be reserved in advance to avoid disappointment.