Strike! review – Dublin shop-workers stage an anti-apartheid protest

In 1984, a group of shop-workers in Dublin marched out of Dunnes Stores in protest at the sale of South African goods on its shelves. For almost three years, they picketed in solidarity with the anti-apartheid movement, even after the withdrawal of union support. The action took them to South Africa, the United Nations and led directly to Ireland becoming the first western country to ban the importation of South African agricultural goods.

Why is their momentous strike not better known? And why hasn’t there been a Made in Dagenham-style film about it? That might change given the televisual appeal of this slick, smart production about the nine women, and one man, at the Dublin store.

What is most striking about Strike! is the sophistication of Kirsty Patrick Ward’s direction, with scenes interspersed with narration and 1980s pop hits (Madonna, Annie Lennox, Band Aid) as well as Ira Mandela Siobhan’s choreography. The protestors and their union rep, Brendan (Paul Carroll), move in fabulous formations across Libby Watson’s shopfront stage set.

Written by Tracy Ryan, the script has much comedy and bonhomie with occasional dips into darkness. The humour, sometimes angled at the church, comes in zinging one-liners from the women, who make for a sweetly spirited, albeit slightly romanticised, sisterhood.

While this remains an eye-opening story, there is at times the sense of being taken through its chronology with the faithfulness of a history lesson, and the group appears like an always upbeat, flatly homogenised mass rather than individual characters.

We see the guilt of Mary Manning (Chloe O’Reilly), who sparks the strike by refusing to serve a woman who wants to buy grapefruits from South Africa and is suspended for it. Alongside this is the quiet heroism of both Vonnie (Doireann May White), who loses her home from the lack of income, and Tommy (Adam Isla O’Brien), who is brutally beaten by the police in a masterfully choreographed scene.

However, the script skates past the chance to bring more depth and detail to their lives. There is also Nimrod Sejake (Mensah Bediako), a South African exile and activist who speaks in homilies about freedom and resistance. The production trades on cuteness and the performers are so winning that we love them even when they remain generic. A charming show, telling a remarkable story.

• At Southwark Playhouse, London, until 6 May