Follow North East Theatre Guide on Twitter at https://twitter.com/NETheatreGuide and
on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NETheatreGuide. Read
about JoWhereToGo and its PR and photography services here.
The
Pitmen Painters
Blyth
Phoenix Theatre
Until Saturday 12th
November 2016
It
was the start of the weekend and it was a chance to pay our first visit to the
Phoenix Theatre in Blyth. The modern theatre was a short walk from the
car park on Freehold Street and first impressions
were very positive. The friendly team quickly advised us on where to buy
tickets, sold us a programme and sorted us out with drinks. The venue had good
views from the seats though it seemed odd how the audience seems to prefer to
sit on one side of the auditorium for some reason. In fact the only thing we’d
change would be the ice cream brand – but we all have our favourites!
The
Pitmen Painters is by Lee Hall of Billy Elliot fame. He based the play on the
book Pitmen Painters: The Ashington Group
1934-1984 by William Feaver It was another example of a Newcastle Live
Theatre production that became really popular and found itself playing at much
larger venues including on Broadway. We have pointed a wagging finger at the
dodgy accents from southern actors trying to produce a Durham accent in Billy Elliot
but there were no problems here in this Phoenix Theatre Company production. It
was great to be in Northumberland in order to see a show celebrating the
regions creativity with accents coming from people who know what they’re
saying.
The
action begins at the home of the Ashington branch of the Worker Education
Association in 1934. Having exhausted the study of evolution, they decided to
turn their quest for education to art appreciation. The group, consisting
mainly of local miners, use their subs of a tanner a week to pay for a lecturer
to come up from Newcastle to come along and help
them appreciate art. Lecturer, and painter, Robert Lyon quickly realises that a
study of how one might feel staring at a renaissance painting wasn’t working.
He then suggests that they’d be better off painting their own art and trying to
appreciate that. This starts a journey that compliments their strong passion
for hard work and socialist ideals.
Photo: Paul Cummings |
The
miners are quite happy to discuss how they feel about their own pictures but
are less approving of life drawings involving naked students or making profit
from their work. The tale runs up to the
start of the nationalisation of the pits.
We
are given a chance to explore both the concept of how unusual it was for
working class people to be creative and the original socialist ideals that set
up, for example, the NHS. Lee Hall’s script gives the audience a clear
understanding of both pride in their day job and the desire for education and
change. Just because a lad had to find employment at the age of 10 because he
had a family to support does not mean that they do not yearn to learn about
places they will never have the chance to visit.
The
show has a good ensemble cast, including John Thompson, Kevin Bradley and
Daniel Collins, that is both entertaining and true to the story. In the most
part they come across as the miners rather than as actors pretending to be
miners. For example Dave Cooper is sufficiently circumspect as Oliver Kilbourn
whereas Trevor Bell is rousing as the socialist dental technician Harry Wilson
without getting tiresome as he gets on his left-leaning soap box. By contrast
Jonathan Cash hits the right note as the lecturer Robert Lyon, who knows how to
feel about art but cannot perceive what life must be like down the pit. Jodie Reay is like a breath of
fresh air as she appears as Susan for her modelling job and Jen Woods helps
change the pace as art collector Helen. Director Chris Johnson has done well to
capture the spirit of the original production.
A
good first impression of the Northumberland theatre. We will be back!
Review by Stephen Oliver - Follow him at https://twitter.com/Panic_c_button
Review by Stephen Oliver - Follow him at https://twitter.com/Panic_c_button
Read
the original NETG preview at http://nomorepanicbutton.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/preview-pitmen-painters-at-blyth.html
Tickets:
Pitmen
Painters appears at Blyth’s Phoenix Theatre from 9th - 12th November at 7.30pm.
Tickets
are £13.50 & £12.50 for concessions and available from the Box Office on
01670 367228 or online at www.thephoenixtheatre.org.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment