Most people now know about the 1968 Dagenham sewing machinists who went on strike, because the musical and film Made in Dagenham put them in the public eye. Less well known is that, much nearer the time, in 1976, a group of women workers in Brentford were inspired by the Dagenham story to go on strike from the Trico factory. The Equal Pay Act had come into force at the end of the previous year and their case seemed clear cut: five men had joined their day shift and were doing exactly the same job for £6.50 a week more.
On the Line is a fictionalised play by Caitlyn Vary and Becky Hartnup inspired by interviews with the real strikers, conducted by the Questors PlayBack team (a group dedicated to creating theatre from the memories of local people), and by the book Trico: A Victory to Remember by Sally Groves and Vernon Merritt.
The pioneering director Peter Cheeseman once said, “I thought that the most important thing we could do as a theatre was to make people more aware of their own importance. In a democratic society you don’t want people thinking history is something that happened elsewhere.” So while On the Line is a little rough around the edges in places, it brings a certain electric energy as an act of civic memory. I heard the ushers telling each other that the whole run had sold out before it began, and that neither could remember that happening at The Questors before.
It captures the local area well. A night at the cinema ends at a bus stop offering the E2 and E3 bus routes, and Ealing audiences will know at once that they have been at the former Lido in West Ealing. Brentford football club’s trials and tribulations drew ripples of appreciative laughter, especially given the club’s very different position in the Premier League now.
Brentford itself has changed immeasurably. The industrial Golden Mile that lined the A4 with the likes of Trico and Firestone is now largely home to high-tech companies, though echoes of the buildings and times remain, most notably the beautiful clock at the junction named after its factory, Gillette Corner.
As a play, On the Line does not perhaps add to our understanding of the era beyond what other plays have done. What it does do is remind Ealing audiences that these battles were fought on our doorstep. These women could have been our friends and neighbours, and they endured 21 weeks of real hardship to win what was rightfully theirs. Audiences can ask themselves: would I have put my name down for the night-time rota to help, or would I have sided with management in thinking the women should just get back to work?
The set design allows factory, pub, garden and home to be presented flexibly, and the factory is the cleverest of these, with management placed literally and metaphorically above the workers. HR lead John Slidders (Simon Higginson) is presented as a firmly corporate man, while Robert Vass captures well the somewhat more clear-eyed Sid Atkins who has been on the factory floor himself.
The script also has a subtlety to it, with married couples on both sides of the picket line, represented here by Nick Thomas as Ray Thompson and Emily Sanctuary, as his wife Valerie Thompson, in a layered performance that reminded us how difficult it can be to navigate marriage when the world is pulling us in different directions. As Valerie grows in political awareness and confidence, Ray is torn over how to support her and keep his job.
The strikers’ struggle to keep their resolve while juggling finances and childcare is made plain. Principles do not put food on the table, and choosing to be on strike is hard. The scenes where lorries try to burst through the picket line captured well the fear and danger of the situation. We felt too the exhilaration when each of these small battles was won.
The Questors is an amateur theatre with great ambition, and this cast, like many there, is a mix of amateurs and professionals. Some dropped lines slowed the pace a little, but by and large it was a strong ensemble with energy and clear diction.
The night ends with a difficult reminder. We may have just watched a piece of history, but in less than a week, on Friday 20 November 2026, we reach Equal Pay Day. This is the notional day beyond which women are, in effect, unpaid for their work until the end of the year because of the gender pay gap. According to the Fawcett Society, it has moved two days earlier than last year as that gap has widened.
Booking details
On the Line by Caitlyn Vary and Becky Hartnup
Venue: The Questors Theatre (Studio), 12 Mattock Lane, Ealing, London W5 5BQ
Dates: Until Saturday 21 November 2026. Performances at 7.45pm.
Captioned performance: Thursday 19 November
Tickets: Standard £14 to £25, concessions £12 to £23, students and under 18s £10 to £12.50, Season Pass holders £10 to £12.50
Age guidance: Recommended 10+. The production contains a scene with prolonged flashing lights.
Availability: All remaining performances were listed as sold out at the time of writing. Check The Questors website for any returns.
Booking: https://questors.org.uk/event/on-the-line/
[Thank you to The Questors theatre for gifted tickets for an honest review.]
Images credit: Finn Hartnup-Williams
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