Jul 28 2016: COAL - the true story of an industry and a community’s fight for survival
THE drama, the tragedy and the unbreakable spirit of a working class community fighting for its future…the show the critics hailed as “urgent and heroic” and “emotional dynamite” is back!
Following a critically acclaimed sell out debut Spring tour at dance venues and theatres across Britain, Gary Clarke Company now sets off on a major national autumn season with COAL!
COAL commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Miners’ Strike and reflects award winning choreographer and dancer Gary Clarke’s own experience of growing up in the midst of the 1984/85 industrial dispute as a child of the Yorkshire coalfields, where some of the most brutal and bloody confrontations of the bitter year-long dispute took place.
Given a Four Star review by The Times during its spring season, COAL is a riveting dance theatre show that 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 completely forgotten.
It is based on years of personal research by Gary Clarke include extensive interviews with Anne Scargill - former wife of NUM president Arthur Scargill - and Betty Cook, the founders of Women Against Pit Closures.
He 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 now embarks on the second leg of a critically acclaimed national tour featuring 16 performers - seven professional contemporary dancers including TC Howard (acclaimed for her work with Vincent Dance Theatre and Wendy Houstoun), a live on stage brass quintet and four local community women, both specially recruited at every venue.
Bands playing in the autumn season will include the Kirkintilloch Band, Brighouse and Rastrick Band, Carlton Main and Frickley Band, NASUWT Riverside Band, Tredegar Town Band and the Fairey Band.
The unforgettable voice the Prime Minister at the heart of the dispute is provided by Steve Nallon, still best known for his many performances as Margaret Thatcher in long-running cult TV hit Spitting Image and here providing an uncanny evocation of the Conservative leader as he recreates her exact words from the time of the strike.
Performers are pushed to physical and emotional extremes, with an evocative score of live brass classics arranged by MD Steven Roberts of the world famous Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band a thunderous soundscape by Noise Artist Daniel Thomas and Siobhan McKeown’s shocking short film capturing devastating scenes of the strike in an immersive, accessible and affecting audience experience.
Dramaturgy is by Lou Cope (well known for her work with award winning performers like Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui), with costumes and set by nationally acclaimed designer Ryan Dawson Laight and lighting by Charles Webber.
COAL combines Gary Clarke’s vivid visual performance style and splintering physical language as it marks the 30th anniversary of the turbulent end of the Miners’ Strike.
What the critics are saying:
“An absorbing, immediate slice of history…robust, urgent and heroic…” The Times
“Unquestionably beautiful.” British Theatre Guide
“Coal is contemporary dance that moves grown men to tears…emotional dynamite.” East Midlands Theatre
“Powerful and moving…a thrilling piece.” The Sheffield Star
“A compelling look at the behaviour of real people under political and personal pressure.” seeingdance.com
“A profound and highly relevant contribution to remembering this painful, life changing period in our history.” The Big Issue
COAL is co-commissioned by DanceXchange, Cast Doncaster, The Place, Dance City, Dance4 with Nottingham Playhouse, The Civic Barnsley and Yorkshire Dance with additional funds from The National Lottery through Arts Council England, Individual Giving through kick-starter with support from The Northern School of Contemporary Dance and The NUM.
Autumn Tour Dates
Glasgow Tramway, 7.30pm, September 30-October 1. For tickets call 0845 330 3501 or visit www.tramway.org
Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield, 7.30pm, October 18/19. For tickets call 01484 430528 or visit www.thelbt.org
Gulbenkian, Canterbury, 7.30pm, October 28. For tickets call 01227 769075 or visit www.thegulbenkian.co.uk
Gala Theatre, Durham, 7.30pm, November 10/11. For tickets call 0300 026 6600 or visit www.galadurham.co.uk
Blackwood Miners’ Institute, Caerphilly, 7.30pm, November 24/25. For tickets call 01495 227206 or visit www.blackwoodminersinstitute.com
Contact Theatre, Manchester, 8pm, December 7/8. For tickets call 0161 274 0600 or visit www.contactmcr.com/coal
More dates for 2017 coming soon
Suitable for age 12 and upwards
