The first known play written about the Matchgirls Strike was by Robert Mitchell, as part of the Unity Theatre in 1938. Later, Bill Owen wrote a musical version of the story, based on Mitchell's play. Owen's wrote the script and the lyrics for 'The Matchgirls', while Tony Russell wrote the score. The musical was performed in 1966 at the Globe Theatre (now the Gielgud Theatre) but it had been previously put on in Leatherhead. Since that time, this musical, in its amateur version has been performed many many times by schools, colleges and amateur dramatic groups.

 

Another musical, 'Strike a Light', was also performed in the West End at the Piccadilly Theatre in 1966 but it had been previously put on in Leeds. This musical was written by Joyce Adcock and music by Gordon Caleb, with additional songs by Johns Taylor. The show was revived in 1988 at The Curtain Theatre, co directed by Kevin Dowsett. However, there have been no known other performances of this musical since.

 

More recently. In 2023, the Oldham Theatre Workshop premiered a brand new musical, 'Strike!' by Michelle Temperley and Michael Edwards. In 2024, we saw the first punk adaptation, 'When We Strike', by Caitlyn Burt and Amir Shoenfeld, performed by the British Youth Music Theatre (BYMT) at the Southwark Playhouse. Then, in 2025, the Barnet and Southgate College performed a new production, 'The Matchgirls – The Unlikely Heroines', written by Cheryl Ferner-Reeves.

 

We are trying to put together a catalogue of all the plays and musicals over the years and you can help. Please let us know if you or a friend or family member took part in a production and let us know as much information as possible.​