Theatre Production of We Are The Lions Mr Manager

Celebrating the 50th anniversary

‘We Are The Lions, Mr. Manager!’ is the remarkable story of Jayaben Desai - the inspirational leader of the 1976-78 Grunwick Film Processing Factory Strike.

Jayaben brought the issue of workplace exploitation and racism to the fore, challenged the perception of Asian women being inherently passive and docile, whilst measuring up to the most brutish and charmless of her managers, telling him:

“What you are running here is not a factory, it is a zoo. But in a zoo there are many types of animals. Some are monkeys who dance on your fingertips, others are lions who can bite your head off. We are the lions, Mr. Manager!”

She not only stood up for workers’ rights and against oppression with selfless dedication, but with her steadfast resolve, she turned the dispute into a national movement for human rights and dignity, inspiring future generations.

Reasons for re-touring “We are the Lions, Mr Manager!”

This theatre show originally toured the UK eight years ago for the 40th anniversary; it played to large audiences, was critically acclaimed, nominated for the Eastern Eye Awards' Best Actress category, among the Guardian Readers' favourite ten shows of 2017 and won a "10@10 Stages Script" award. But now that the 50th anniversary of the Grunwick Strike fast approaching, a re-launch and re-tour is a powerful and irresistible opportunity to celebrate the giant steps that were taken to challenge public opinion and trade union attitudes from the determined south Asian workers, predominantly women, engaged in the industrial action, as well as acknowledge the show of solidarity that made this strike particularly memorable.

Furthermore, we have recently witnessed unacceptable scenes of rioting and violence in communities around the country, provoking fear and distress to many directly and indirectly, caused by the actions of violent, racist and far-right organised groups and individuals.

As with many cultural organisations, Townsend Theatre Productions encourages inclusivity and diversity across communities and the community partners with whom they work and serve, and the company believes in challenging societal disharmony by shining a light on important stories from under-represented voices in our communities.

The story of the 1976-8 Grunwick Strike, and of the immigrant women workers at the centre of those events, is one of dignity, rights, pride and solidarity in the face of institutional racism and fierce ideologies out to destroy hard-won freedoms of working people. Re-mounting and re-touring our successful production “We Are The Lions, Mr Manager!” is part of our mission, and will play an important role in beginning new conversations, challenging existing attitudes, maybe offering some answers to bring communities together.

The show has tremendous contemporary relevance (immigration, workplace exploitation, women's rights, racism and human dignity), and is told in Townsend Theatre Productions’ customary accessible, imaginative, entertaining theatrical style with songs and music of the 1970s.  This is social history presented in an entertaining, participatory and engaging way. It contains a serious message delivered in an energetic, musical and comedic manner.

Townsend Theatre Productions will be working closely with new theatre partners to build on the production values of the original production. There will be more opportunities for community involvement: an interactive exhibition to intrigue, educate and entertain audiences as they arrive, which then doubles as the set for the performance. 

Building on community and audience engagement in recent productions, there will be greater involvement of community dance and choir groups in this new version, and also an international element - the inclusion of recorded performances of an Indian community theatre company from Delhi, whose work will be projected as part of the performance.

The Exhibition in detail

The exhibition will be curated and designed by the company’s artistic team to include photographic, documentary and news footage from the strike at the time as well as existing recorded interviews with additionally recently recorded oral histories.

It will be presented in a mix media collage of textured cloths, banners, fixed boards and projected images and film with accompanying contemporary cultural reference, sound and music, and also specific art, music and songs that are specific to the Grunwick Strike.

The aim of the touring exhibition is twofold, firstly as pre-performance to share with an audience history, context and modern relevance, and secondly, as a separate post-tour exhibition in appropriate settings as a way of bringing the story of Grunwick to a new, younger audience. In both cases, with accompanying learning materials and special events, the aim is to inspire future generations to come together to challenge injustice.

This extension of the notion of a touring theatre performance is not just about remembering the past, it's also about organising for the here and now, to organise conference events around the touring performances and the individual exhibition seasons over the period of the 50th anniversary commemorations, and shine a light on how the lessons and legacy of Grunwick can help us to understand current migrant workers' struggles and campaigns, as well as other associated issues such as colonialism, immigration, race riots, cultural and social disharmony, policing, union hierarchy, women in the workplace, industrial relations, party politics and so forth. There are also opportunities to reference other historical disputes, for example Imperial Typewriters and Gate Gourmet, as well as recounting stories of modern workplace experiences in the UK and internationally.

We need to raise £9,000 to pay for exhibition design and materials, workshop space, exhibition boards and conference publicity. 

Can you help? Can your organisation or trade union make a donation?

We have some great rewards on offer for when you donate and every penny will go towards ensuring that this important legacy is not lost and the bravery of the Grunwick strikers is never forgotten.

The Project & when it will take place:

The tour of “We Are The Lions Mr Manager” will begin in Autumn 2025 and for this we have already successfully managed to book several dates across the UK including Scarborough, Sheffield, Doncaster, Prescot, Southport, Shrewsbury and many others so the prospects for the production touring into 2026 are also looking good, so we are in a strong position with all the foundations laid. The exhibition will need a moderate lead-time to execute, and we want to begin to seek match-funding, hence starting our Campaign early. 

Our past work: 

Townsend Theatre Productions website CLICK HERE

“We Are The Lions, Mr Manager!” is a significant contribution to Townsend Theatre Productions' growing list of authoritative, professionally produced new plays about working-class and labour history. 'Behold Ye Ramblers' highlighted The Clarion movement, 'We Will Be Free' was about the Tolpuddle Martyrs, 'Farewell Leicester Square' about Britain’s first black bus driver,  'Rouse Ye Women' about the women chain-makers, 'United We Stand' was part of the Shrewsbury24Campaign, 'Dare Devil' about British volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, 'On the Road To Freedom' focussed on The Chartists, 'Yes! Yes! U.C.S!' concerned the Work-In at the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders and 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’ continues to be the company's most popular touring show. 

Our plays have toured the UK to huge critical acclaim and to large audiences inhundreds of city, town and remote venues, large and small, for nearly fourteen years. The basis of our work is one of partnership with communities, artists and campaigners. Our work, often developed with testimony from recorded interviews or documentary sources, resonates with our working-class audience experiences, offering a safe and secure place for those engaged to have their voice heard and feel included in the process of artistic endeavour. Our aim is, and always has been, to create outstanding, imaginative, entertaining, accessible and socially-relevant live theatre.

Townsend Theatre Productions are award winners! - in the past the company's work has been recognised through the North-East Theatre Awards for best touring production of 2022, 'Stagescripts' 10@10 Award (2018) & 'Eastern Eye' ACTA best actress Award (2017) for"We Are The Lions, Mr. Manager!"; Edinburgh Fringe Awards best actress (2013) for "We Will Be Free!"; the company's work has featured on BBCBreakfast, BBCr2Jeremy Vine, BBCr4's 'Women's Hour' and 'Front Row', and in 'The Observer', 'The Times' and 'The Scotsman'.

The Project & sustainability:

One major consideration for touring is to be environmentally sustainable. Our very well organised touring schedules will be prepared to ensure minimisation of long distance travel between venues, keeping each touring phase hyperlocal, keeping our carbon footprint small and save on fuel costs. Our production values are based on recycling sets, and by using up-to-the-minute technologies we use very little energy in performance.

The Project & how your money would be spent:

Townsend Theatre Productions is the fourteen year old invention of theatre director and producer Louise Townsend and writer/actor/musician Neil Gore. We have been working in the theatre industry for many years and have extensive experience in all types of theatre from Community Arts to Rep to Panto to West End. We have extensive experience of budgeting within very tight margins, so we're very adept at making magical things happen on quite low funding streams. It means we know how and where best to reap the most effective returns on investments. We have identified three areas of our work where your financial contributions would be best placed to make the project a success: 

Firstly, in creating and designing a set that doubles up as an exhibition that makes best use of recycled materials, but will also require additional lighting and projection equipment.  We want to really transform and impact upon the spaces where we perform; to literally "wow" an audience. 

Secondly, access to performances is our major focus, and your support will go towards making the shows accessible for all, with some well advertised BSL signed performances and captioning included in the production design.

Thank you for watching our Crowdfunding film, and for considering and supporting our project. Your contribution will be matched by other funders, so can feel confident that your donation will go a long way!