Red Ellen, The Mighty Atom, The Fiery Particle ... all these were names given to the sparky Labour MP who led the Jarrow Crusade in 1936.
There were probably a few other names too, given Ellen Wilkinson's habit of making a nuisance of herself in a man's world, fighting like a terrier in her politics and enjoying passionate affairs with married men during a colourful life that included a dalliance with a communist spy and meeting Einstein.
Who knew. Certainly not me as I took my seat at Northern Stage on Tuesday night expecting this new play by Caroline Bird - which is making its debut in Newcastle ahead of a tour - to pretty much focus upon her role in the famous Jarrow march to London, protesting against mass unemployment and poverty in the region.
Read more: Newcastle attractions urge 'come back to culture'
So this no-holds-barred look at the firebrand MP proved quite a revelation, with Bettrys Jones giving what truly can be described as a tour-de-force performance in the lead role as the flame-haired pocket rocket who, on being elected MP for Jarrow in 1935, is here told by her Tory rival that the town "doesn't need an MP; it needs a miracle."
Jones is on stage throughout and it's exhausting to watch her at times - fast talking, fast moving Ellen tumbling, sometimes literally, from the corridors of power to a lively sex scene with her lover, as a deceptively simple set switches from the panelled walls of Westminster to various homes; with overhead captions keeping pace with change of place.
The Jarrow Crusade as it happens barely gets a look-in, although when it does it's a scene that leaves an impression: lines of empty overcoats, caps and boots are hoisted up, as rousing singing accompanies the marchers, and then are left hanging, like the ghosts of the men, at the close of the first half: the crusaders later being dismissed as heroic failures; the disrespect leaving a bitter taste in the mouth.
Ellen isn't the needed miracle, not for Jarrow anyway, but she has fights on many fronts. Alert to the looming threat posed by Hitler and Franco's fascists, we see her in Berlin then Spain as Europe teeters on the brink of war. Throughout, Jones' extraordinary performance is matched by an ensemble of actors who switch between sexes and so many characters I was amazed at the end to see there are actually only seven in the whole cast.
I particularly liked Mercedes Assad's Einstein, Spanish activist and Cockney housewife and Jim Kitson morphing from David - an asbestosis sufferer too unfit to join the Jarrow march - into Winston Churchill. And I was very moved by Helen Katamba as Ellen's sister Annie, especially in a first act scene which sees her bare the brunt of her sibling's guilt over not being there to care for their dying father.
Unable to understand him giving up his fight, Ellen is razor sharp in her cruelty and for me it's a stand-out scene, more so even than the emotionally-charged exchange towards the end of the play between Ellen and her lover, powerful though that is. Do we like her? Not really. At least I didn't warm to her but it doesn't much matter.
We do see humour and wit which takes the edge off a picture of a woman with seemingly more concern for strangers than her own family - or herself for that matter as she fails to look after her health, chain smoking one moment then doubling up with asthmatic attacks the next.
Directed by Wils Wilson, Red Ellen demands a fair bit of its audience too. It's very long and wordy and requires your focus throughout its two hour 20-minute (plus interval) run. But it's not to be missed if you've even a passing interest in this woman who never gave up the fight and achieved so much.
The only female minister in Attlee’s government, she goes on to serve in Churchill's cabinet and we see her taking sole charge of air shelters during the war. When Labour finally comes to power, she ends up as Minister of Education, securing free school meals for children but cast adrift in her personal life.
Before she was elected in Jarrow, Ellen was MP for Middlesbrough - having resigned from the Communist Party to join Labour - and the MPs for both Jarrow and Middlesbrough were there on Tuesday night to see her story told at Northern Stage - co-producer of the show - where it continues until Saturday.
Newcastle 's premiere run is shorter than intended, with its start date having been delayed due to cases of Covid and its upcoming tour soon to get under way. For its locations and ticket information see here.
