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STRIKE A LIGHT a musical in two acts by Joyce Adcock. Music by Gordon Caleb. Additional dialogue by Frank Lawton. Additional songs by John Taylor. Leeds Arts Centre, 1961 Alhambra Theatre, Glasgow 7 - 16 April, 1966 Piccadilly Theatre 5 - 30 July, 1966 (30 perfs) SYNOPSIS With the same basic plot as “The Matchgirls”, Sarah Chapman, an employee in the Bryant and May match factory, enlists the help of Anne Besant in improving the working conditions of the hard done by women. This time Sarah’s boyfriend, Tommy, is a lot more supportive than in the earlier show. AUTHOR’S NOTE Strike A Light, is not a musical about misery, disease, and squalor. It is a musical about courage, vitality, and hope. In 1818 all factory workers had a hard, rough and unrewarding life, and yet managed to rise above their drab surroundings and existence. The legend of the tough, resilient and vital East Ender was born out of these days of poverty. The girls in the match factories of the East End were tough products of their environment. they fought and drank and swore, they worked hard and enjoyed their small amount of leisure to the full. Their wages were poor, but no worse than those of other unskilled workers at the time. The risk of phossi-jaw (the necrosis of the jaw caused by phosphorous poisoning) was very small at the tim,e of the strike, though it had been rife twenty years before this time What the girls fought for was the right to take home all their wages without the fines and deductions which had been imposed. They had courage and spirit and it is as a tribute to their fortitude that this musical has been written. JOYCE ADCOCK MUSICAL NUMBERS ACT ONE • Come the Revolution - Lewis, Bert and Betty • It’s a Fight - The Matchgirls • Bit of it now - Sarah and Matchgirls • Everything - Annie, Herbert and Singers • Pawnshop Doorway - Sarah and Boys • Up in the World - Sarah, Tommy and Company • Scandalous - The Directors • Another Love - Sarah • When I Read - Rose and Sarah • Let’s Make a Night of It - Keziah, Tommy and Company • Strike a Light - Sarah, Keziah and Matchgirls ACT TWO • Summer Evening - Sarah, Keziah, Rose and Company • Private Enterprise - Tommy and Company • Dear Lady - Herbert • Girls Who Go with Sailors - Keziah • Making Friends - Annie, Policemen and Workmen

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