Maryam Philpott — Theater Critic

Its content is horrifyingly moving and one of the most important things you will see on stage in this or any year because it speaks so graphically to the very substance of The Years, to the pain, external control and physical impact of the twentieth century on women through the politicisation of their bodies. Transferring from the Almeida Theatre to the Harold Pinter Theatre, Eline Arbo’s stage adaptation of Annie Ernaux’s memoir is hugely affecting and deeply, deeply important.

The music feels progressive, reflecting the determination of the characters who fight and fight again, giving the equivalent of rousing speeches that galvanise the audience and carry them on the long path to enfranchisement. Where most musicals offer up a few rousing songs at the beginning and end of each Act, Sylvia is one stirring song explosion after another. From Make Some Noise in the middle of Act One, to March, Women, March, Suffrajitsu and Be the Change, the blend of funk, hip hop and garage is effortless and who doesn’t want to see Winston’s Churchill’s mother as a badass grime artist!