‘Porgy and Bess’ has just opened at The Savoy Theatre in the West End of London. Originally conceived as an "American folk opera,’ it has now been adapted into a musical. It tells the story of Porgy, a crippled black man living in the slums of Charleston, South Carolina, and his attempts to rescue Bess from the clutches of her pimp and drug dealer. The songs were written by the famous brothers, George and Ira Gershwin, and include many of their classics: “Summertime,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’.” Women feature in many of the Gershwins’ songs, but how much do they have to say to today’s woman? Claudia Hammond’s been finding out.
