Review: PRIDE at National Theatre, Dorfman

She won elections and acted as a strident figurehead for the jingoistic Falklands War, but the Iron Lady thought very little of the coal miners, who for generations had raised the black rock to the surface to feed our industries and Empire but who in reality could depend on little else to provide employment. She was eager to sacrifice them on the altar of capitalist greed and in so doing, neutralise a great deal of their political clout. At the same time, gays and lesbians were feeling liberated and emboldened to be themselves and demand some sort of equality (and the human rights which accompany such legal recognition). Thatcher didn't think much of that group either and imposed Section 28.

While Stephen Beresford's book and lyrics shy away from some of the more contentious elements which reviewers of my vintage may have lived through and experienced first hand, he most definitely finds place to mention the unflinching solidarity which was shown by lesbian and gay groups of the time towards victims of blanket social and economic cruelty. Here, LGSM (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) are led by Mike (Matthew Durkan) and Reggie (Jhon Lumsden) who organise bucket collections in London for the families of a Welsh mining town. When they travel to deliver the money and help distribute food supplies their sexuality proves a bone of contention for the remote, traditional, church-going townsfolk.

For all that the music and orchestration contributions are co-written by the team of Christopher Nightingale, Josh Cohen, DJ Walde and Tom Kelly, there is often a remarkable similarity in the song stylings rendering the overall sound, thematic. Mixing pop and disco traditions with Welsh choral anthems (like The Dragon on Our Flag - sung in Welsh) the overall effect is one of cohesion yet variety resulting in a solid blend of stirring heart-tuggers, earnest torch songs and flamboyantly jovial disco bops. In the vocal stakes, there were stand-out moments from Sarah Pugh as young Welsh mother Siân who longs for a more productive and energised life in her solo My Little Infidelity and Lewis Cornay as the young man dubbed Bromley who inadvertently joins the rag tag band of fundraisers at his very first Pride march - unbeknownst to his parents but by the end of the show has quite firmly realised I'm into Guys which brings the house down. Among the other notable turns in an altogether terrific cast is diminutive scene stealer Gwen played by Gillian Elisa who can make answering a telephone funny and Samuel Barnett who manages a fourth wall-breaking, spotlight moment as un-dimmable Jonathan.

Within elbowing distance on opening night, were Graham Norton and Russell T. Davies among others and the universally raucous and approving reception from the audience, was an absolute joy to be amongst.

PRIDE runs 2 hours and 30 mins including interval and continues at National Theatre's Dorfman until 12th September.

Pride Tickets