The first piece of theatre I saw when I moved to Leeds 10 years ago, on maybe my second or third night in the city, was Red Ladder’s ‘Playing the Joker’ at Leeds Playhouse. The little front of house area curtained off into a pop-up venue was heaving, and the audience laughed and commented and nodded along knowingly to the unravelling tale of Eddie Waring’s life. It wasn’t like theatre experiences I’d had before – it felt like a local pub on quiz night, unexpected, come-at-able and a little bit unruly – I loved it. Red Ladder has always been a bastion of front-footed political theatre that tells stories where people actually live them, and as a theatre-maker in Leeds I couldn’t feel more privileged to be trusted to tell stories for them.

When I was offered the opportunity to direct ‘We’re Not Going Back’ ten years on from its original staging, I was thrilled (and, I’ll admit, a little bit intimidated too) to be handed responsibility for a show that already means so much to Red Ladder’s audiences and the team who first created it. This play tells a story about the miners’ strike I’d never really heard before, from the experience of the women affected; the women at the heart of the communities impacted, who organised groups, fed people, stood up, stood by, held up, marched, worked, picketed, defended, fought, survived…

Women Against Pit Closures (c) Ken Wilkinson courtesy of National Coal Mining Museum

Plus you’ve got Boff Whalley’s brilliant script and music, brought back to life by the outstanding original all-female cast (back in the roles they played a decade ago), with live music arranged and performed by the magnificent Beccy Owen – there’s a lot to be excited about in this show!

I hope we can bring all the ingredients of this show to life in a version that speaks to the original production but gives audiences something new too! We’ve stripped back the set to play with a collection of choice props to tell this story in a way that reflects the resourceful, practical, enterprising spirit of our three heroines and ties us to the era. We’ve also been given a lot of freedom to play with the text in the room, to examine the shifts in language, storytelling and performance styles since the show’s last outing – and there’s even been the gift of some new music to add to the stupendous soundtrack! Lots of new things to excite audiences, but with the much-loved bones of this brilliant show as they ever were.

L-R Beccy Owen, Stacey Sampson, Claire O’Connor, Elvi Piper & Victoria Brazier in rehearsals

During this process I’ve learned so much about the events that took place in the year the play spans (1984-1985) and the experiences of the people and communities impacted by the miners’ strike. The shockwaves of the strike have shaped the lives of generations to come, and the experiences of the play’s characters 40 years ago are eerily and frustratingly familiar today. I’ve also been overwhelmingly inspired by the incredible stories of defiance, empowerment, and determination in the face of adversity that this process has thrown in my path; and I hope audiences will be too. I hope they’ll leave this show inspired, outraged, smiling, swearing and singing – entertained, affected and even ‘changed’ by the art on the stage in front of them.

Book for We’re Not Going Back

Headshot of Elvi Piper (c) Lian Furness