Beverley Knight calls Emmeline Pankhurst a ‘gift of a role’ as Sylvia plays Birmingham

Beverley Knight says playing suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst is a ‘gift of a role’ as Sylvia: A Musical Revolution plays Birmingham Hippodrome. In an interview published on 8 October, the Wolverhampton artist told BBC Radio WM she hopes audiences leave the musical feeling that their voices can make a difference.

Knight called it ‘an absolutely killer story, and the best thing is it’s true’. The show follows Emmeline and her daughter Sylvia through a dispute over whose voting rights their campaign should pursue, with Naomi Katiyo playing Sylvia in the Birmingham production, according to the BBC.

What Beverley Knight said about playing Emmeline Pankhurst

Knight described herself to the BBC as a ‘history nerd’ and said the musical covers a major part of British history from 1903 to 1928. Her account puts the relationship between Emmeline and her middle daughter at the centre: both fought for political change, but disagreed over the scope of the campaign and its direction.

In Knight’s telling, Emmeline concentrated on winning votes for women, while Sylvia wanted the franchise extended more broadly. She described the disagreement as putting mother and daughter on a collision course with each other, while both also confronted the government. That family conflict gives audiences a way into the political argument the musical stages.

What Birmingham audiences can expect from Sylvia

The production moves through speech, rap and song, Knight told BBC Radio WM. Although it has been described as a hip-hop musical, she said its sound also draws on R&B, funk, soul, garage, gospel and house. ‘The engine of the show is the music,’ she said, adding that she does most of her part through singing rather than rapping.

Knight said she wants people to leave feeling ‘empowered’ despite the heartbreaking moments in the story. She also hopes some audience members will recognise a connection through relatives involved in the suffragette movement. The BBC interview records what she wants the show to do; it does not establish how audiences have responded.

The Birmingham stop has a personal connection for the singer. In the Norwich Theatre interview, Knight said she grew up near Wolverhampton and called Birmingham the closest the tour gets to playing her hometown. The BBC also identifies her as a Wolverhampton artist.

How long has Knight been involved with Sylvia?

Knight told Norwich Theatre she joined Sylvia at its original Old Vic workshop in 2018. She has stayed with the production through its subsequent life and won the 2023 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her performance, according to the theatre’s account. Her latest remarks therefore come from an actor who has worked with this material for years, rather than someone encountering the part for the first time in Birmingham.

In that earlier interview, Knight described a show that begins with the Pankhurst family united in 1903 and follows the political and personal strain that develops as their approaches diverge. She singled out a score influenced by hip-hop, R&B and garage and discussed songs that mark turning points in Sylvia and Emmeline’s relationship. Her description offers a guide to the production’s dramatic focus, without treating the musical as a complete historical record.

Knight also said she hopes the performance prompts people to look up the women behind the story. For audiences in Birmingham, the immediate draw is the combination she describes: a dispute within one of the best-known families of the suffrage movement, told through a fast-moving musical and a role Knight has called one of the most significant of her career.