Monday 19 – Tuesday 20 June 2017 at 8pm at Nottingham Playhouse. Main House – Tickets: £18 – £12. Age 12. Running time: 80 minutes (no interval)
Marking the 30th anniversary of the end of the 1984/85 British Miners’ strike, award-winning choreographer Gary Clarke proudly presents COAL, a riveting dance theatre show which takes a nostalgic look at the hard-hitting realities of life at the coal face.
Strong, powerful and emotive, COAL explores the darker underbelly of the mining industry unearthing the true nature and body wrecking demands of a working class industry now almost forgotten.
Bringing together Clarke’s striking physical language performed by a company of 7 stunning professional dancers, a local community cast of women and a live brass band, COAL is an emotional, moving and ever-relevant exploration of community, solidarity and survival.
Based on years of personal research by Gary Clarke, including interviews with Anne Scargill, former wife of NUM president Arthur Scargill, and Betty Cook, the founders of Women Against Pit Closures.
“The tour is dedicated to the survival and resilience of a man that understands what’s it’s like to fight for his life like many others. This man is my Dad” – Gary Clarke
Gary Clarke also spent time with Chris Skidmore of the National Union of Mineworkers, Bruce Wilson, author of Yorkshire’s Flying Pickets, Barnsley historian and author Brian Elliott and Paul Winter of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign.
“COAL is a direct response to my upbringing in the working class mining village of Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire. It’s about trying to capture a time in British history that is too easily forgotten. It is an attempt at keeping the memories of the mining industry alive, an industry that I believe shaped the fabric of our society and how we live our lives today. These communities are at the heart of COAL.” Gary Clarke
To watch a trailer, please click here.
Community roadshow offer
To accompany the performances of COAL at Nottingham Playhouse on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th June we are looking to organise a roadshow for members of ex-mining communities on the evening of Wednesday 14th June in Nottinghamshire (exact time and venue TBC) in association with David Amos, Mining Heritage.
Roadshows are completely free to attend and last around two hours, providing communities with an opportunity to connect with COAL and the extensive research undertaken by Gary Clarke on a deeper level by offering a chance to meet Gary, to hear about the deeply personal process he went through when making the show and to reconnect to their own memories of a life lived at the coal face. All those in attendance at the event will be offered discounted tickets to see COAL at Nottingham Playhouse.
If you would be interested to attend this event, please let David know by return email david.amos99@ntlworld.com no later than Friday 2nd June.