Wonderland - Review - Northern Stage

Wonderland 

Northern Stage 
27th Feb 2019


Wonderland. That's a word to conjure with, isn't it? It's full of allusions and connotations and promise! Alice in Wonderland immediately springs to mind - in her strange and wonderful world down the rabbit hole, where everything is not always good and creatures talk in confusing half truths and riddles, ad who don't always have Alice's best interests at heart. Wonderland: it's aspirational, the stuff of dreams - who wouldn't want to go to there?

Set in the eighties, during the miner's strike,

Beth Steel's Wonderland is the land of miners, of  pits shafts and cages, heat and hard graft. This land is equally wonderful, and dangerous and riddled with double speaking creatures who all have something they want from Wonderland and it is not always the same thing.

Wonderland follows the fortunes of a group of Nottinghamshire miners. From the first

day dfor a couple of 17 year old rookies to the last days of the strike and the return to work. Beth Steel is a miner's daughter. I was expecting a piece that was sympathetic to the mining community, and was fully prepared for the usual polarised opinions that the miner's strike inevitably draws out. I grew up I a pit town in the Durham coalfield. Family members and friends worked in the industry - not all down the pit and not all with the same view of the strike. Miners had a strong work ethic. They were tough men doing a tough job and they were proud of it. They were also loyal - to the men they worked with and to the pit. The pit was their livelihood and they respected it. The strike took that away from them, completely and utterly. It's hardly surprising that they remain bitter in the face of what they see as a betrayal. 

What Beth Steel's Wonderland shows is the power of the mining communities pitted against the political powers and their machinations. Her portrayal is a balanced view - yes the sympathy for the miners is there but she does not shirk away from

showing all sides of the story. Not all the politicians agreed with the plan, but they were in the end self-serving - they followed the party line to preserve themselves. Those that insisted on voicing a contrary opinion were silenced, or cut out. I actually began to feel a certain sympathy for Ian MacGregor - seen as the hatchet man, he was brought in believing he was going to transform the industry and make it profitable, and he became the scapegoat. I think he was shafted almost as much as the miners. 
Equally, not all the miners support the strike - but once the wheels are in motion it's impossible stop the machine from rolling. Entitled to a vote, but given none, the strike was effectively illegal but loyalty to the union and to fellow mineworkers is the watchword and you did not dissent. You are either with, or against. No middle ground. 


All this sounds very heavy, and political and serious but this is a superbly entertain

ing, funny and emotional play. I love the incongruity of  singing and dancing miners and the humour - from the subtlest jokes to the ribald banter between the men. Act one is full of energy, laughter, music.. Act two is darker - the music has died away and the humour is blacker than the coalface. 

Wonderland is a bold, beautiful piece of theatre. It starts with a lone  miner scraping the title in coal on the grubby shutter. WONDERLAND. It's not exactly sparkling neon. The shutter curtain rolls up with industrial clatter and grinding , a sudden flash bang lights the stage for a second and we see scaffolding, rusty, and rail tracks...and the coalface, black, glistening, immense. Just for that instant there is a hint of wonder - what world is this? It ends on the forlorn, heartrending reprieve - "I am the son, of the son, of the son of collier's son". 

It is an outstanding production. Everyone who thinks they know what the miners strike was about needs to see this play. It's about the people and the politics, and the breaking of a country and it is about life and loyalty and dignity. 

Wonderland runs until 9th March.

*Photo credit Darren Bell  

Denise Sparrowhawk

Preview - Wonderland - Northern Stage

Wonderland comes to Northern Stage 

I'm pleased to see yet another gritty and honest play about mining communities coming to the North East. DS

Following rave reviews from critics and audiences Nottingham Playhouse revealed that Wonderland would be returning to the theatre to kick off its 2019 season, prior to a run at Northern Stage in Newcastle.

Set in 1983 Nottinghamshire, Wonderland sees two 16-year-olds, Malcom (played by John Booker) and Jimmy (played by Joshua Glenister) wait nervously at the pithead. Guided by veteran miner Colonel (played by William Travis), they descend into the brotherhood, banter, searing heat and liquid blue light of Welbeck Colliery.

Meanwhile in London, an American CEO Ian MacGregor (played by Robin Bowerman) is brought in to reform King Coal. Pits close and a strike is called.

Taking the stage as The Times reporter David Hart will be Giles Taylor, while Geff Francis will play pit manager Tilsley and transport secretary Nicholas Ridley. Holding roles as pitmen in the story will be Karl Haynes as Bobbo, and Jack Quarton as Fanny.

Nicholas Shaw and Paul Kemp have been confirmed to play pitman Spud and real-life politician Peter Walker in the Nottinghamshire-based show, respectively.

Directed by Nottingham-born Adam Penford and written by the daughter of Nottingham miner Beth Steel, the local story proved a huge hit with East Midlands audiences and returns to the award-nominated theatre for the second year running. 
Morgan Large’s ambitious coal-face set design also received critical acclaim, winning Best Design in the UK Theatre Awards 2018. 

Adam said: ““Wonderland was a huge hit in 2018 and received standing ovations every performance. Our audience has been calling for its return since it closed and it’s clear they feel an ownership of Beth Steel’s beautiful play.  

“It’s rare that theatre resonates so strongly with a community, producing tears and laughter in equal measure. I’m sure the production will capture the imagination of the audience again, whether they’re returning or seeing the show for the first time.  

“I’m also thrilled we’re taking it to Northern Stage, where the story will resonate just as deeply.” 

“**** This is a big play…full of heart and very little sentimentality” – The Guardian

“powerful and pertinent - ****” – The Stage

“Richly theatrical - ****” – What’s On Stage

“Unmissable” – British Theatre Guide

“*****” – East Midlands Theatre

“This is a fine start for Adam Penford as the Playhouse’s new Artistic Director,” – Nottingham Post

Wonderland runs from Friday 8 February through to Saturday 23 February 2019 at Nottingham Playhouse and from Wednesday 27 February to Saturday 9 March 2019 at Northern Stage. 





The Last Seam - Review - Northern Stage

The Last Seam

Cast at Northern Stage
27th Sept 2018


Written by Garry Lyons
Directed by Daljinder Singh
Produced by Deborah Rees

Cast:  Cathy Breeze, Ray Castleton, 
David Chafer, Jamie Smelt, Emma Tugman

Over the past year I have listened to the conversations around shipbuilding and the loss of our once great industry. The Last Ship and Launch Day were staged. I came to Launch Day and listened to the stories and saw a little piece of history brought to life, and loved it. But - you know there's got to be a but - the Coalfields girl in me was just a little bit - just a smidge - disgruntled that the other great industry of the north seemed to be forgotten. So when I saw that there was a play about mining coming to Northern Stage I stuck my hand straight up for the chance to review it! Finally, the mining was getting its moment in the limelight. I hoped that the miners would be given as honest and sympathetic a treatment as the shipbuilders had received. Coalmining will forever be tainted with the horror of The Strike. It elicits emotional and passionate responses in people. Even now decades later the mention of the strike has a polarising effect. There is no middle ground and the wounds have not healed - they linger, mostly hidden, like a piece of shrapnel under the skin, until someone jars it and the old pain flares up. Would the Last Seam capture all of that? Would it show us an honest portrayal, or tabloid sensationalism?  

Cast's production centres on the closure of the Hatfield Main Colliery in Doncaster. One of the last three deep seam mines in the UK. In 1993, almost 10 years after the strike, British Coal ceased production and the mine was passed through a series of private companies, many of which went into administration, Finally, a loan of £4million from the National Union of Mineworkers enabled the production to move to a new face. The mine should have been safe till Summer 2016 - but after a change in carbon tax and withdrawal of Government funding the mine closed in 2015 with just two weeks notice. Four hundred and thirty men were laid off. How does a community survive when the very life breath is taken from it? 

The Last Seam is the story of the miners, their wives and families, and their community. It is built up from the stories listened to and recorded by the writer Garry Lyons. He says in his introduction to the play that he changed very little of the words - merely wove them together to build the play.  And because of this the play is honest, it holds together with integrity and compassion. It is emotional, there is anger, hate, and sorrow but there is also love, and pride and above all humour. The miners were proud men. The job they did was hard - backbreaking, and no-one wanted that for their children, they wanted better for their kids, but they were immensely proud of what they did. It defined them, and it defined their community. 

The Last Seam shows the disintegration of their way of life; the ferocious fight to survive in the eighties and nineties. What struck me most as the play progressed was the switching of roles - the women in the end were the ones left fighting. It was telling for me that at the end it was the women who chained themselves to the pit railings and protested the closure. The men seemed beaten - not  defeated as such, but resigned, as finally having seen the process so many times they had not the heart to fight this one last betrayal. "We saw what was coming" is a refrain throughout the play. 

The performance by the five actors was spellbinding, they addressed the audience like one half of a conversation - remembering, explaining, telling us their stories, against the backdrop of the pit locker room and a soundtrack of punk bands. 

Did the Cast crew do justice to my mining heritage? Yes they did. it was an incredible performance.  It does not descend into sensationalism, nor morbid pessimism; there is no pity, no condescension, but there is grit and pride, there is empathy, and honesty and integrity.  (It is a credit to the professionalism of the entire team that even when the performance was unexpectedly interrupted, they resumed after the enforced break without a slip.) The five actors played their parts impeccably, impassioned, sympathetic, and completely believable.  

The Last Seam returns to the North East on Thurs 11th and Fri 12th October at The Peacock, Sunderland. It is well worth seeing, whether your background is mining, or shipbuilding or modern commerce and call centres. There is so much that we have lost - not just jobs and industries, but community and humanity. So much in this play rings true even today - perhaps if more people could experience theatre like this then we might begin claw some of it back. 

Denise Sparrowhawk 

Heaton! - Review - People's Theatre

Heaton!

The People's Theatre
17th July 2018

Heaton! The Peoples Theatre 17^th July 2018 presented in association with Shoe Tree Arts.

Heaton! Is a play inspired by local area of Heaton and the Great Exhibition of the North and is an original production for The People’s Theatre. Upon my arrival my ears were greeted with a full band playing, which was nice, the band was also featured in the play and performed at the end. The play itself was a cornucopia of ideas mixing several genres, including musical aspects, live film action, a blend of real and fictitious characters and stories, set against a backdrop of footage on a giant screen (which wouldn’t look out of place in a cinema).

There was a boatload (quite literally at one point) of cast, not all in speaking rolls, some just for the musical elements, which did make it feel like a musical in places, aside from the fact it actually had some plots to it (sorry I’m not a fan of musicals) The quality of the music was actually quite high too. Some of the characters included from Heaton’s illustrious past included: Lord Armstrong, engineer and original owner of Armstrong Park; Sir Ove Arup the engineer of the Sydney opera house; Sir Charles Parsons the inventor of the steam turbine; Lady Katharine Parsons, the founder of women’s engineering society; Colin Veitch, Heaton’s footballing wonder kid who played in a successful Newcastle United side in the 1800s and early 1900s, who was also co founder The People's Theatre and later a journalist with the Evening Chronicle; prominent feminist and suffragist activist Florence Nightingale Harrison Bell; Rachel Parsons, engineer and advocate for women's employment rights; Edith Stoney, mathematician who helped Charles Parsons in his gas turbine calculations.; Jorn Oberg Utzon a Danish architect notable for designing the Sydney Opera House, and finally George Stanley a historian who narrates much of the action.  

What was very nice was the brilliant original music compositions created specifically for this production by Ken Patterson and Richard Scott. The acting was good and in one of the most enjoyable moments the narrator said Newcastle Upon Tyne instead of Newcastle council, (I guess you had to be there!).  One of the reviews from a guy in the audience made me laugh he said “I thought I was going to fall asleep, but I didn’t it was good”. Praise indeed.

There were so many different stories going on in it, too many to mention, but all weaved into a nice overall narrative capturing the early 1900s in Heaton very well. It was also funny in places, - it seemed to have everything mixing the various genres seamlessly. A whole year's work went into the production and it’s evident, you can see the love that’s gone into it - this is people who are clearly proud of their local heritage. The place was packed out like I’ve rarely seen it, I had a blast and learned a lot and you will too. Get down and share in some local pride! 

Frank Cromartie Murphy

Launch Day - Northern Stage - Review

Launch Day
Northern Stage
29th May 2018

Presented by Kelly-Abbott Dance Theatre
Choreography by Kristin Kelly-Abbott
Produced by Phil Hargreaves
Costume by Kim McDermottroe
Lighting by Mark Parry
Music by Breifne Holohan and Mark Knopfler

Inspired by the art of Alexander Millar, and featuring the haunting music of Breifne Holohan and Mark Knopfler, Launch Day tells the story of shipbuilding in the north.

It is peopled with the flat-capped, booted and overalled men, who shuffle their way to and from work, waved off by headscarfed wives and mothers. It sounds cliched, but it is not. It is a representation of a time, and a way of life that was very real. These are tough men and women. Their lives are hard, their work is hard, but there is pride in it.
The dances and the music echo the beat of the hammers, the flying sparks of the welders and riveters. he energy of the workers, and the bone-weariness at the end of the day.

But, it is not all hard work - there is also play. There is football, and there is the pub. They recreate the beautiful game, and the rivalry between neighbouring shipbuilding towns - the red and whites and the black and whites, fans chanting and cheering and jeering (you're not singing anymore!), players scoring and tackling and arguing with the Ref.
And after the match, of course, they go for a pint! I think only in the north east of England, could a Saturday night skinful, falling over and throwing up, be made into a dance and turned into a thing of beauty.

Launch Day combines dance, art, technology and music - the traditional and the modern, to tell a poignant tale. Images of Millar's art are projected onto the backdrop and we hear words spoken by the shipbuilders while throughout the piece there is the constant echo of the hammers, the gentle lapping of water, and the image of a ship's prow sliding slowly into the sea.

This evening was actually the final day of the Launch Day tour, returning to where it started for its last hurrah. I feel privileged to have seen it. 

Denise Sparrowhawk