Make Good: The Post Office Scandal — A musical miscarriage of justice

“Make Good: The Post Office Scandal” is a new musical by Jeanie O'Hare (book) & Jim Fortune (music & lyrics), presented by rural theatre companies Pentabus and New Perspectives. Directly informed by conversations with affected sub-postmasters, it tells the captivating and tragic story of “one of the greatest miscarriages of justice” in Britain's history, which began 30 years ago.

On 19th October, I had the pleasure of watching “Make Good: The Post Office Scandal” in Ludlow Assembly Rooms Auditorium. With two main musicians, a quartet of actors and a choir disguised as the front row, a bittersweet true story unfolded before my eyes. 

I knew close to nothing about the “The Post Office Scandal” except that the sub-postmasters had won their court case and those affected by the single error in the software issued by the Post Office were to receive compensation. “Make Good” made me feel like I was watching a documentary, but instead of David Attenborough it was the voices of persecuted sub-postmasters speaking to me through the actors.

After the performance, I came out wiser to how important the perspective of who tells the story is, and how, in our current age, there is a growing over-reliance on technology that is dangerous and shows no sign of slowing down. As the saying goes, “the computer is only as smart as the person using it”. But what happens when there is something wrong with the code and not the person using it? You get a scenario and harrowing reality much like the Post Office Scandal. One that affected over 900 lives.  

“Thought my future was bright. Now it’s trying to survive.”

Quote from the show

The most eye-opening part about “Make Good” is that it’s based on true events. It isn’t a musical conjured from a scriptwriter's imagination. It isn’t a made-up scenario inspired by something similar. “Make Good: The Post Office Scandal” is a musical written about a recent event that has happened. It is a musical about a real event that affected and still affects hundreds of lives. It is a musical about an event that could have been bought off, rewritten and shoved under a rug. But it wasn’t, because a few resilient, hurt and wrongfully disgraced individuals came together and decided that it was wrong. It was wrong that the Post Office could get away with this. It was wrong how they were prosecuted for a crime they hadn’t committed. It was wrong how they were told they were the only ones this had happened to, though they weren’t. Far, far from it. In the end, the remaining sub-postmasters had their names cleared. The damage was already done. Their fight is not finished.

From an artistic perspective, “Make Good: The Post Office Scandal” has been one of the most interesting musicals I have watched. It had memorable musical numbers that don’t take attention away from the stories being told. The thought put into how the actors interacted with the set, props, lighting, and each other was so fluid and enticing, I would love to see it again, just so I can focus on the technical aspects. It was well received by the age-varied audience, with pop culture references littered throughout the script. 

To me, “Make Good” was a bittersweet experience. It evoked feelings of anger and stress as well as despair and sorrow, but there was also some pained chuckling here and there. “Make Good: Post Office Scandal” is great to see if you want to know more about the true events, or you just enjoy a good musical. However, if you do go to see it, be sure to bring some tissues. You might not need them, but someone else surely will.

Make Good: The Post Office Scandal is touring the UK now. Find out about upcoming shows here. Be aware that the production contains themes, actions and technical triggers which may impact audience members such as: suicide, some strong language, haze (at some venues), and flashing lights which may not be suitable for photosensitive epilepsy.