Currently playing a stint at the Old Vic theatre in London, Sylvia is a newer musical to enter the West End world and tells the story of Sylvia Pankhurst and her contribution to the Suffragette movement. Their performance certainly impressed their newest audience member, me, but I can’t help but draw parallels of the show to the more famous Hamilton.


The show started out as a work in progress back in 2018 and quickly united dance, soul, hip-hop and funk to shine a light on a remarkable moment in history. It was written and choreographed by Kate Price, who has now been nominated for the Best Theatre Choreographer at the Olivier Awards. Now, the show is back and has been running the full production of the completed version since the 14th of February 2023.

As mentioned, the plot follows a true story about the lesser-known Pankhurst, Sylvia, who is in and out of prison during her early years for her work under the Women’s Social and Political Union (the Suffragettes). The group was tightly controlled by Sylvia’s mother Emmeline Pankhurst and sister Christabel. By 1914, Sylvia was expelled from the union alongside her East London Federation as they had argued for an explicitly socialist organisation, aligned with the Labour Party. What became the East London Federation of Suffragettes, focused on working class collective action, rather than individual attacks on property. The end of the show became an attempt to rewrite history as Emmeline Pankhurst became the villain, refusing to know Sylvia and meet her new grandchild.

The story also zoomed in and out of Winston Churchill’s life, exposing his sexist views as he refused to give women the vote. This musical is the only time you’ll ever see Churchill’s mum rap about how women should be denied suffrage, much to the audience’s pleasure. It was only when Clementine- Churchill’s wife- persuaded the former two to sway their views on the matter that they came around to the idea.

The musical has been highly praised by critics: the Guardian gave it a four star review, naming it “a storm of a show” and The i described the show as “fast and fearsome, pounding with kinetic energy.”

However, throughout the piece I was constantly reminded of the US hit show Hamilton and I’m not the only one to have thought this. In fact, many of the cast members themselves are alumni of Hamilton including main character Sylvia (Sharon Rose), who played Eliza, and Winston Churchill (Jay Perry), who played Burr. The Pankhurst sisters mirrored the famous Schuyler sisters and wise Emmeline Pankhurst took on a role not dissimilar to George Washington.

Although when questioned about whether Sylvia was just an English version of Hamilton by the Guardian, Prince was quick to reply “we’re not on the coattails of Hamilton!” The proof that this is a show in its own right lies in the evidence that Kate Prince hasn’t even seen Hamilton.

I would easily recommend the show to anybody thinking of giving it a watch, as it’s a clear reminder not to take our vote for granted and leaves you feeling overwhelmed with emotions of courage and the joy of overcoming. You’ll need to be quick if you want to see it as the show takes a bow and departs the Old Vic on the 8th of April.