Sylvia, a musical bursting with dance, soul and hip-hop, retells an essential and ever-relevant slice of British history: the fight for universal suffrage. The play revolves around the Suffragettes in the Pankhurst family, particularly hard-line matriarch Emmeline and her daughter Sylvia.

After first playing the part of Emmeline in 2017, the Midlands’ very own Beverley Knight is returning to the role when the show visits the region next month.

What’s On caught up with the Wolverhampton-born singer, songwriter & actor to find out more...

Sylvia, a new British musical illuminating the lives of the Suffragettes, visits Birmingham Hippodrome next month. Named after the rebellious and headstrong middle daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst - the leader of the Suffragettes - the story sees Sylvia Pankhurst defy her mother, advocating for universal suffrage.
Midlands icon Beverley Knight originated the role of matriarch Emmeline Pankhurst, and has remained with the production as it’s gained traction. Her performance saw her named ‘best actress in a supporting role in a musical’ at the 2023 Olivier Awards.

“Sylvia Pankhurst goes against her mother’s orders and agitates for everyone to get the vote, and that puts her on a collision course with her mother,” explains Wolverhampton-born singer, songwriter & actor Beverley. “It’s a fabulous, fast-paced show, using R&B, hip-hop, garage and soul ballads to tell the story of how these ordinary women became extraordinary… It’s a brilliant piece. There’s a lot of humour, there’s a lot of darkness, but ultimately there’s a hell of a lot of joy.”

Involved in the production from its very beginnings - London-based workshops in 2017 - Beverley knew early on that the musical was going to be something special. She recalls the moment she was approached by its writer, director & choreographer, Kate Prince: “Kate said ‘I'm developing this show about the Suffragettes, and I would love you to play Emmeline,’ and I was in! I'm a history freak; I love history. The first song I heard was a song called March Women March, which is almost like [the play’s] theme tune. I lost my mind. I was in, and I've been in it since.”

It was at the 2018 premiere performance, at London’s Old Vic theatre, when the real weight and impact of the production became clear.

“We got to the interval - that's the real pivot-point of the show. A terrible thing happens to the women - they are beaten terribly by the police - and then the women come back stronger in Act Two. I saw people holding each other in the audience, weeping... I had to take a minute - this is British history. There are people in this audience, especially some of the older people who had come, whose grandmothers or mothers would have been involved in the fight for women’s suffrage. I mean, this is that near in terms of history. We’re not quite a hundred years into full universal suffrage, and that really puts things into perspective. This is not ‘way back many centuries ago’. This is only just falling out of living history.”

As a self-professed history fan, Beverley has taken the opportunity to find out more about Emmeline.

“I’ve loved it. I’ve gone into the deepest search when it comes to researching her. I have her book, I have Sylvia’s book, I’ve managed to track down a DVD that was copied from a VHS tape of an old series that was on TV in the 70s, about the fight for women’s suffrage. I’ve read everything I can. I’ve researched old files to listen to Christabel Pankhurst’s speaking voice - she sounds really high-pitched, like old transcriptions of the Queen. It’s quite funny how people spoke back then. I’ve done everything I can to try and transport myself back to Edwardian Britain, and for me, I couldn’t be in a better place. I’m fascinated by it.”

In the national tour, Beverley is joined by Naomi Katiyo, who takes the title role. The familial relationship which the pair bring to the stage is the backbone of the drama.

“It starts out as this wonderful, loving, united Pankhurst family, all of them agitating for the same thing: votes for women. They’re all pulling in the same direction, until it becomes increasingly obvious that the government isn't going to bend, isn’t going to shift, isn’t even gonna listen to these women. Emmeline says, ‘Well, a Suffragist would like to have the vote, and a Suffragette will fight for the vote.’ It’s that fight where the cracks begin to show in the family. Adela Pankhurst is not comfortable with it. Christabel loves it - Christabel is the strategist who is thinking of all these wonderful schemes that her mother implements. Sylvia at first goes along with it, but her pacifism means that she just can’t continue on that road. Then she sees how her mother, over time, becomes this autocrat - ‘My way or the highway’ - and that sets mother and daughter on a collision course. Eventually, the relationship is fractured beyond repair and they never speak again. It’s quite a serious drama - high stakes.”

Since the early days of the production, the play has been refocused to centre the action around the women themselves.

“When I first started, [Labour Party founder] Keir Hardie and his relationship with Sylvia was very much at the forefront. It takes a little bit more of a back seat this time round, to concentrate on the dynamic between Sylvia and her mom, and Sylvia with the other women. Christabel is also important because she’s very much her mother’s henchwoman. The focus is around the Pankhursts as a family.”

The play doesn’t shy away from the realities of the Suffragettes’ protests - including the famously public death of Emily Wilding Davison at the 1913 Derby. Beverley believes that these historical events remain shockingly relevant: “The cruelty of what happens to these women and how they are ridiculed - we see the echoes of that today. A lot of the arguments and the problems that the women came up against almost 100 years ago are things that we are seeing repeating today. The right to protest - who has that right, what protest is acceptable, when does it cross the line? What is the role of women in today’s society - has it changed? The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

While there are undoubtedly some heavy themes, the uplifting and rousing music brings joy back to the production. And, with the tour’s second stop-off being Birmingham Hippodrome, Beverley is buzzing with excitement to perform on home turf once again.

“Just glorious! There’s this extra frisson of excitement from my point of view because I know I’m going to be coming back to God’s own country, and to know that I’m in a place where people know my journey. They know what it’s taken for me to stand on these stages - that’s always extra special, and I appreciate them.

There’s gonna be a lot of people who are part of my story in that audience watching, and I don’t take a single one for granted. It’s always a joy to come home and to play - and the Hippodrome is one of the great stages in this country.”

Sylvia shows at Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 6 to Saturday 10 October

By Jessica Clixby