A musical that powerfully unravels the Post Office Scandal

I can’t have been the only one dubious at the prospect of a musical retelling of the Post Office Scandal.

This most egregious of miscarriages, in which hundreds of lives were ruined and a beloved British institution was found not only to be dysfunctional but dishonest, could not surely be distilled into chords and lyrics?

My misgivings were wrong. Make Good is a heart-wrenching but ultimately uplifting production which benefits rather than suffers from its musical USP. So much of this story is known – thanks largely to this year’s ITV drama – but even that brilliant effort never quite managed to get across the despair, frustration and misery suffered by victims. This show gets closer than most to taking audiences on the same emotional journey as those sub-postmasters wrongly accused on the basis of the faulty Horizon system. And just like so many of those affected, it retains a warmth and humour that you would never expect.

The performance starts with Patrick the Postman (Ed Gaughan, pictured above) introducing the story and warning the audience this might not always be an easy watch (‘Don’t worry, we’ll do Mamma Mia in the second half’). He reappears intermittently to push on the narrative while three main characters (Victoria Brazier, Charlotte Delima and Samuel Gosrani) play different sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses affected by the scandal, based on real accounts but not portraying any specific individuals.

The optimism of the new millennium, the cautious welcoming of the new Horizon technology and the pride in running a Post Office branch all disappear in the wake of malfunctioning systems and indifferent helpdesk operators. Marriages break down, relatives are begged for cash to plug shortfalls and each branch manager goes through their own torment before the inevitable court process and jail sentences. The scenes where these innocent people are cajoled and effectively blackmailed into pleading guilty to false accounting are harrowing to watch, as are the moments when it dawns on them that they are convicted criminals. 

With such a small cast (albeit one handling different roles with aplomb), there is little scope for getting into the nuances of the legal process and lawyers who let down these people. But audiences will still ask why the solicitors representing the sub-postmasters were so meek and defeatist in the face of the Post Office prosecutors, and why judges – so beholden to this new and ultimately flawed technology – did not ask more questions.

The songs are largely an accompaniment rather than a distraction from the story. Each actor is given scope to tug at the heartstrings with solo ballads, while the choreography for upbeat numbers is impressive given the limited stage space (the revolving counter is an excellent vehicle for this). One number involving audience participation and a comment on the ageing process is a bit jarring and out of place, but the closing song on how the victims are not alone is a fitting way to end the show and you’ll be singing it all the way home.

If a musical about the Post Office Scandal sounded odd in theory, that was without the care and research of the writers and the outstanding performances of the three leads. If anything, setting this story to music only brings it to life even more, and makes the pain of those involved only too real.

Make Good is on at various theatres nationwide until the end of November. See Make Good: The Post Office Scandal | Pentabus for details.