The Making of TAXI

A Writer’s perspective from Andrea Heaton, based on an original concept from Douglas Thorpe

Taxi opened it’s doors this August at The Old Woollen, Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley. A collaboration between Red Ladder artistic director Rod Dixon and mad dogs dance choreographer Douglas Thorpe it was many years in the making. The Writer, Andrea Heaton (Heaton (Smile Club, Jack Frost, Football Freddie) shares her thoughts on the making of TAXI.

When I first visited R&D over three years ago the pair had already created a collection of intertwining characters with enough back story for a long running series. At the centre of it all, the Taxi Driver, a character who most of the time said very little at all. Peppered with ideas and moments of Doug’s own experience as a driver, there was a strong sense of this character’s emotional experience but not what his own identity or story might be. When I began to develop the script I decided to lean into this idea as a concept for the whole piece.

Why would this character, who spent his day travelling where he was told, trying to keep his head down, making sure not to talk about anything too risky like religion or politics, why would this guy be the main character? Taxi needed an imperative, a reason to speak; what better than to make Taxi’s story a matter of life and death?

Watching Douglas, and the skilled dancers who have developed Taxi, work was a change of perspective for me. As a writer so many characters start on the page, as an actor I’m led by the voice, by tone and use of language. But mad dogs company characters were in their bodies, deftly expressing the desires, needs and fears of the protagonists without exposition heavy dialogue.

This show could not be naturalistic, it would be physical and viscerally live. Working across genres, with a creative team who are not particularly interested in following the rules of theatre or dance, I had the freedom to write something I had never written before. I wanted to give Doug the space to create epic movement landscapes while telling a story that was intimate and compelling. I wanted to invite the audience on an emotional and spiritual journey with us.

I started by imagining the parade of customers who sat in Taxi’s cab day after day. They could be anyone, all blissfully unaware of who had sat in their seat beforehand, and each with their own agenda. Our Taxi driver catching glimpses of their multi-faceted lives and stories before they disappear from his world. Of the thousands of stories that one taxicab might contain, whose stories do we want to hear? Who do we miss?

After a three year journey with the project, and some expert navigation from dramaturg Lindsay Rodden, my script is now in the hands of the brilliant team Rod has assembled.  Zac Doughty’s set design will put our audience right at the heart of Taxi Driver’s world. Ed Heaton (Sound Designer and Composer) and Adam Foley (Lighting Designer) are plotting away to create an immersive experience through the city and beyond. The exceptional multi-rolling cast of five, Maya Carroll, Gerald Headley, John Kendall, Stephania Pinato and John Rwothomack are joined by a community chorus of Leeds folk in signature Red Ladder style.

Taxi is the story of a city, how the pieces fit together to make a whole. It is a story about humans, our loneliness and our desire for tangible connection. It is almost certainly not the story I would have written pre pandemic, it was not the route I expected to take. But here I am, and here you are, this is our journey now- this is who we are.

TAXI is at Leeds own Old Woollen, Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley, from August 10th, I hope you’ll join us.

Red Ladder Theatre Company and mad dogs dance theatre present: TAXI- an interview with the Co-directors Rod Dixon and Douglas Thorpe

Written by Andrea Heaton, Co-directed by Rod Dixon and Douglas Thorpe, based on an original concept by Douglas Thorpe

Taxi is a brand-new premiere from Red Ladder Theatre Company & mad dogs dance theatre, what can audiences expect from this piece of dance and drama?

Rod:  I want us to blow away expectations.  I mean audiences may have expectations from previous Red Ladder work, but want the audience to be surprised, to be given a spectacle they’ll never forget, this is visceral. People who don’t like dance or theatre will hopefully be reached, TAXI may well intrigue people.  We want to bring in people who don’t normally go to see theatre or dance.  For us, success will be them leaving after seeing the show and saying: ‘I wasn’t expecting that at all!’

Doug:  Agreed. The worst thing would be that we created nothing new, or what the audience expected.  We don’t want to replicate what people have done before – that’s what the arts are about, creating something new. Something different. We don’t want to be repeating ourselves.

Rod:  Yeah absolutely… I worked with a theatre group considered by critics and audiences to be exciting, yet they were producing exactly the same stuff that they’d been producing 30 years ago.  For me, that formula doesn’t work if you don’t stretch yourself as an artist.

We’d seen it all before, using the same stuff, and this collaboration we’re doing now is partly because we both wanted to work outside of our comfort zone.  Perhaps in a way that isn’t safe but that’s the endless struggle of art and theatre; how can you take a risk if you need to follow a business plan and if you’re creating art solely for profit, then it isn’t really art.

If we make audiences come out feeling a little uncomfortable, and maybe younger audiences might not have seen anything like this before, live.

Doug:  A lot of the script is based on all of the people that I met when I was a taxi driver.  It’s all of their stories that I heard, and we are retelling those stories.  Some of them are a little more direct and they are also the stories of those people that you don’t get to hear from.  That’s what really appealed to me, to be able to share all of those voices that you don’t usually get to hear.  And it is not all doom and gloom, it was beautiful to meet someone…

Rod:  It’s a slice of urban life, something surreal, but then what you can see out of your car window, and sitting in your taxi at 1 am, CAN be surreal.

Q:  It’s quite dark subject matter, what was the inspiration for this piece?

Doug:  It isn’t all dark though because sometimes you meet people who are beautiful and so full of life, who you can have great communication with and that’s the perfect scenario of what a taxi driver can experience in a single day.

As a creator, I’ve made pieces of work but not really understood them.  But with Taxi, you’d meet people who were clearly struggling financially, yet those were the sort of people who would give you a tip.  Couldn’t believe the amount of time you’d pick up people who were clearly financially well endowed, but one of the reasons for that is that they are so well off is because they are greedy and inconsiderate of anyone else.

Yet it is often those that are struggling, that are the most generous and recognise the job that you are doing and are grateful for it.  And in TAXI, I think I wanted to capture all of those people, all levels of the human spirit and to capture their voices and share their stories.

Rod:  What we are looking at is the everyman and the audience will go away and reflect on their own life and how they leave a mark.  The whole thing is about what is life and death, what is the point. People want to leave a mark, but the reality is, that not everyone has ‘statutes’ dedicated to them. How much do people accept just being a benefit to others being enough in life?  People aren’t comfortable that things might fail.  It’s not so much dark as deep, there’s a depth we are trying to reach, and it’s going to be a challenge.  And it might not work!

Doug:  That really scares me as an artist because I can be in situations where I can’t afford to fail. I have to go back to things that I know can be successful.  So I get pushed into the corner of repeating things. It helps to be in a situation where we recognise that failure is healthy.

Rod:  Hopefully, those failures happen in rehearsal.  But I’ve been doing this for years and you never know how the audience is going to respond.  Opening night is still nerve-racking. You can’t control how people will react. It’s a bit like rock climbing, you’re hanging on by your fingernails a lot of the time.  Doug and I are really experienced about what we do and we are bringing our individual experiences and melding them together.

Doug:  Yes we’re hoping that our separate audiences will be brought together to enjoy TAXI, though I never know how people will react.

Q:  How has the collaboration between the writer Andrea Heaton and Doug and Rod as co-directors worked?

Rod:  Andrea is taking the bigger risk, as we’re going to have to interpret her works.  Although Andrea has worked with the experimental theatre before with Imitating the Dog.  The other collaboration is of course, with the five performers too.  They are all really interesting artists in their own right and we’re really excited to see what they will bring to the production.

Douglas:  Yes, they all have some great experience and we’re really looking forward to the new ideas that they can bring.  They will be adding their own influences and ideas to develop the physical aspect of TAXI.

Q.  Leeds is an actual part of the performance of TAXI, are there aspects specific to the city or could this be any urban centre in the North of England?

Rod:  I’d go further than that and say it could be any urban landscape in the world. The themes are universal, how we trust or mistrust people, how we are out for ourselves or not.  The Taxi driver is almost a philosopher, this is set in a city centre but really it could be anywhere.

Doug:  Yes, I agree it could be set anywhere. We all have desires and feelings, whether old or young. The beautiful thing about being a taxi driver is you see people. People can come looking and dressed a certain way and you make assumptions about them when they get into the car, and then turn out to be completely different to how you expect.

Rod:  Also our community chorus is an important part as they are playing the role of the city as a mass of people that surrounds us all.  We want to give people the opportunity of being in something experimental and being part of the big stage picture.

Q.  Doug, we understand that you were a Taxi driver, are there elements of this piece that relate to the invisibility or isolation of being a taxi driver?

Doug:  I’ve been in a couple of situations where I wanted to escape but couldn’t.  Where I have felt vulnerable or could be attacked.  A taxi driver has to be a politician to dodge a situation or sometimes even a comedian to diffuse a situation. You really have to give credit to taxi drivers as they have to think on their feet whilst being confined in a tiny box on wheels.

You have to deal with the aftermath of the situation after someone leaves your car and try not to take it home to my wife. Some taxi drivers only last a couple of years, and I can understand why, as psychologically, the job can really affect you.

Q. Would you hope that audiences react differently/considerately to taxi drivers once they have experienced this piece?

Doug:  Yes and no to some degree.  Perhaps as our audience leave they may think about how they’ve behaved to taxi drivers previously and maybe even recognise themselves within the art.

We relate to taxi drivers in a particular way and tell them stuff we wouldn’t tell our closest family. I guess that the thought process is that you’re not going to see them again, and people sometimes tell them things just to see his reaction.  Almost like a Confession at church.

Rod:  The Taxi driver is also the only character within the piece that breaks the fourth wall.  There are three worlds within TAXI, the real world, the play world and then the world within his own head. 

Q.  There are a number of films referenced in TAXI, are you film buffs?

Rod: Not really. Thelma and Louise maybe, I like the feminist statement where they drive off the Grand Canyon as a two-fingered gesture to the patriarchy.  I suppose in Taxi, our two characters in the play find that they have a connection through film.

Doug:  My favourite director is Tarantino.  But I also like Scorsese and he did Taxi Driver with Robert De Niro. We might see a De Niro character in TAXI. 

TAXI appears at The Old Woollen, Sunnybank Mills, 83 – 85 Town St, Farsley, Leeds

THURS 10 AUG (Preview Tickets) £13 + BOOKING FEE

FRIDAY 11 AUG – SUN 20 AUG (various times) £15 + BOOKING FEE

Performance Guidance suitable for ages of 13+

Captioning is available via The Difference Engine, a tool that enables d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing people to read performance captions on their phone.

For Tickets Book Here

Red Ladder Theatre Company & mad dogs dance theatre present: TAXI – A Thrilling ride through Leeds Underbelly

“Leeds. So many people. So many stories.  I’m driving and driving and never moving.”

I was there when your son was born…

I drove you to your mother’s funeral…

I see you at your best and your worst…

But you don’t even know my name…

I’m just TAXI

Taxi is a brand new co-production from Leeds-based Red Ladder Theatre Company and mad dogs dance theatre, based on an original concept from Douglas Thorpe.  It’s a frenetic journey through the streets of Leeds, seen through the eyes of Taxi, the main protagonist, played by John Rwothomack, in an exciting fusion of drama and physical theatre.

Set in the dark underbelly of Leeds, Taxi sees the streets of the city in all their visceral glory.  He meets so many people but knows no-one.  A silent observer of the best and worst of humanity, seeing first-hand, the major crossroads and milestones of his passengers – weddings, funerals, and high-speed drives to the maternity ward – yet remains alone.  Can anyone save him as he slowly fades into a fantasy world of black and white movies to escape his own ugly reality?

Many of the character observations are based on the real-life experiences of co-director and one-time taxi driver, Douglas Thorpe.  Combining the writing skills of Andrea Heaton (Smile Club, Jack Frost, Football Freddie) with the directing expertise of Rod Dixon (Mother Courage, The Damned United, The Shed Crew) and Douglas Thorpe (Phoenix Dance Company, mad dogs dance theatre) this original fusion of theatre and dance will take the audience on a thrilling ride they won’t forget.

The ensemble cast (Stefania Pinato, Maya Carroll, John Kendall, John Rwothomack and Gerard Headley) take on a number of different roles within the piece and the city of Leeds is played by a community chorus, who, in turn, portray the myriad of customers that drift in and out of the intimate space of a taxi, throughout a busy shift.  TAXI is also the last production of artistic director Rod Dixon who will be leaving Red Ladder at the end of the year, following a successful and productive 17-year association with the company.

Rod Dixon, co-director of taxi and Red Ladder artistic director, said:  “I want us to blow away all expectations with Taxi.  Audiences may already have experienced previous Red Ladder work, but I want audiences to be surprised to be given a spectacle they’ll never forget.  It’s visceral and people who don’t like dance or theatre will be intrigued by TAXI. 

It’s a view shared by co-director and mad dogs dance theatre founder, Douglas Thorpe, whose real-life experiences are an integral part of the show, he said:  “The worst thing would be to bring nothing new.  We don’t want to replicate what we’ve done before.  The arts are about creating something new, different and challenging; and in TAXI, we certainly won’t be repeating ourselves.

“All the people that I met as a taxi driver and all of the stories that I heard are being retold as part of the narrative, more directly, more overtly, but I am also interested in retelling the stories from those people that you don’t get to hear about.  I saw all levels of human spirit when I was a taxi driver.  Struggling people who would give their all to others, and the well-endowed showing unbelievable greed!”

Despite a steady flow of some 30 plus people a day, sharing this private and intimate space, the life of a taxi driver can often be a lonely one, as Douglas explains:  “I’ve been in a couple of situations where I wanted to escape but couldn’t.  A taxi driver has to be a politician, a comedian, to either dodge or diffuse a situation. 

“They have to think on their feet and all the time they are confined in a tiny box on wheels.  You have to deal with the situation after someone leaves your car and try not to take it home to my wife. Some taxi drivers only last a couple of years, and I can understand why, as psychologically, the job can really affect you.”

Climb aboard as Red Ladder Theatre Company and mad dogs dance theatre bring Andrea Heaton’s searing script to life with an original fusion of theatre and dance that will take you on a thrilling ride you won’t forget, through the noisy streets of Leeds!

The Old Woollen, Sunny Bank Mills, 83 – 85 Town St, Farsley, Leeds

THURS 10 AUG (Preview Tickets) £13 + BOOKING FEE

FRIDAY 11 AUG – SUN 20 AUG (various times) £15 + BOOKING FEE

Performance Guidance suitable for ages of 13+

Captioning is available via The Difference Engine, a tool that enables d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing people to read performance captions on their phone.

For Tickets Book Here

A New Chapter at Red Ladder Theatre Company as Artistic Director Rod Dixon Departs for Fresh Adventure

After 17 years at the helm at Red Ladder Theatre Company, Artistic Director Rod Dixon has announced he is leaving the company to help set up an Arts-Led, off-grid intentional community in Scotland at the end of the year.

For almost two decades, Rod has been instrumental in putting the work, ideals and values of Red Ladder Theatre Company centre stage. His energy, passion and commitment have been central to producing theatre that contributes to a more socially, environmentally and economically just world. From 2006, when he joined the company, Red Ladder’s work has widened its reach from small-scale touring to the main stages of the Liverpool Royal Court with Homebaked The Musical, Leeds Playhouse, The Lowry, York Theatre Royal, the Edinburgh Fringe and more with The Damned United, and many other prestigious venues over a number of national tours. He has also been a powerhouse of the Red Ladder ethos of bringing theatre to non-traditional venues, and audiences.

Rod has headed up a rich period of discovering and nurturing new talent as well as directing shows such as The Promised Land, Shed Crew, the aforementioned The Damned United, Mother Courage and Glory. He has helped to train and encourage hundreds of new actors and developed an impressive alumnus through Red Grit, Red Ladder’s unique, free and flexible alternative to formal acting training. In addition to helping many budding actors and supporting mid-career artists Rod has actively embraced working with early-career creatives like writers, set designers, lighting designers, sound designers and stage managers whose experience with Red Ladder has given them a springboard into the industry.

The company is very sorry to see Rod go and wishes him well for the next exciting chapter in his life; however, his departure leaves considerably large Doc Martens to fill! The Red Ladder Board has brought together an Artistic Direction Working Group to determine the way forward for the company. The Group is currently exploring what the future artistic direction may look like for Red Ladder Theatre Company as an Arts Council England-funded national portfolio organisation and will be consulting with a wide range of stakeholders and voices within the theatre community.

It’s a very exciting time for the company as we go forward into our new chapter. We are completely open as to what our future artistic direction might be but remain committed to our Vision, Mission and Values: we are a radical theatre company producing new theatre that contributes to social change; we take risks and challenge the idea of theatre and who it is for; we have a human heart and equality and justice are at the centre of all we do.

The application process for a new Artistic Director is likely to begin in July 2023. If you have any questions in the meantime you can contact the Artistic Direction Working Group directly by emailing recruitment@redladder.co.uk.

Taxi Casting Call Out

Red Ladder is excited to announce we are opening auditions to be part of our upcoming performance, TAXI, coming this August.

We are looking for volunteers to be part of the Community Chorus, tasked with bringing the city of Leeds alive.

TAXI is a unique production which takes Director Douglas Thorpe’s real experiences of driving taxis in Leeds to explore the city’s dark underbelly, bringing audiences face to face with the despair, hope and loneliness that a life in perpetual transit creates.

TAXI sees the streets of the city in all their visceral glory. He meets so many people but knows no one: a silent observer of the best and worst of humanity.  Slowly fading into a fantasy world of black and white movies to escape this ugly reality, can anyone save him?

Climb aboard as Red Ladder Theatre Company brings Andrea Heaton’s searing script to life.  Co-directed by Rod Dixon (Red Ladder Theatre Company) and mad dogs dance theatre director (and ex-taxi driver) Douglas Thorpe, this original fusion of exhilarating theatre and dance will take you on a thrilling ride you won’t forget!

TAXI is a joint production in association with Red Ladder Theatre Company, mad dogs dance theatre and Spin Arts.

TAXI is supported using public funding by Arts Council England, Leeds Inspired and Leeds City Council.

ABOUT THE COMMUNITY CHORUS

What will I be doing?

As a member of the chorus, you will be on your feet for the whole show, moving across the stage and helping to make the street scenes come alive. You will move pieces of set and props to make the scene transitions happen quickly and magically. You might get the opportunity to play characters who are passengers and customers, but you won’t have to learn lines, as all the chorus voices are going to be pre-recorded to be a track played through the PA. This becomes part of the sound design to which the chorus will respond and move to.

If you want to learn about movement and develop your skills, this is an exciting opportunity to work alongside some of our talented cast.

What is the commitment? 

Rehearsals: Sunday (10:00 AM – 4:00 PM), and Monday and Tuesday evenings starting from 9 July 2023

Performances: Technical & dress rehearsals and performances start on 7 August 2023 and the final show is on Sunday 20 August 2023. We will be having two teams so you would not have to commit to all the performances.

TAXI will be performed on the following dates-

Thu 10 Aug 2023, 8:00 PM

Fri 11 Aug 2023, 8:00 PM

Sat 12 Aug 2023, 8:00 PM

Sun 13 Aug 2023 3:00 PM,  8:00 PM

Tue 15 Aug 2023 8:00 PM

Wed 16 Aug 2023, 8:00 PM

Thu 17 Aug 2023, 3:00 PM, 8:00 PM

Fri 18 Aug 2023, 8:00 PM

Sat 19 Aug 2023, 3:00 PM, 8:00 PM

Sun 20 Aug 2023, 6:00 PM

If you need support with travel expenses for rehearsals and performances then please let us know.

How do I sign up?

Saturday 10 June 2023 – 10 am – 12 pm, The Bobbin Room, Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley, Leeds LS28 5UJ

Saturday 10 June 2023 – 1.30 pm – 3.30 pm, RJC Dance, The Mandela Centre, Chapeltown Road, Leeds LS7 3HY

Sunday 11 June 2023 – 11.30 am – 1.30 pm, City Exchange, 11, Albion Street, Leeds LS1 5ES

You can book here

Places are strictly limited on a first come; first served basis so get in there fast!

The audition will be in a workshop format so please bring water and wear loose and comfortable clothes as there will be movement-based activities. If you have any access requirements we can support you with, or medical conditions you feel we should be aware of for your safety, you will be able to let us know when you sign up.

The deadline to apply is 6 pm on the 8^th June 2023

Feel free to select a different audition date/venue if your preferred option is full.

Red Ladder Theatre Company partners with The Cluntergate Centre to deliver Theatre for Wakefield

Red Ladder Theatre Company has announced its partnership with The Cluntergate Centre, Horbury to deliver its Theatre for Wakefield project. The project, created by The Cluntergate Centre, has been made possible thanks to funding from Wakefield Council’s Culture Grant.

As part of the project, Red Ladder, with The Cluntergate Centre, will work to deepen the reach and impact of cultural offerings in the district by taking high-quality theatre and professionally run participatory projects to three venues across Wakefield: The Grove Hall in South Kirkby, Queen’s Mill in Castleford and The Cluntergate Centre itself in Horbury. This includes delivering three theatre shows at each venue from October 2022 – March 2023 with all show tickets £5 or below.

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The Cluntergate Centre was awarded funding to create, produce and generate creative and cultural activity in Wakefield, for the people of Wakefield. The pieces have been specially chosen based on the venues and their members’ feedback, reflecting the communities they represent and their values.

Another element of the project is to build a creative network across Wakefield. Linking up these three venues will facilitate collaboration, allowing them to swap successes and discuss shared goals. This includes bringing new people to the centres, growing participation at workshops, showcasing the venues as hire spaces, and increasing overall footfall.

The productions include: My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored, a gripping tussle of power which provokes questions about racial identity, and Blow Down, a production which explores the hopes and anxieties around the closure of Ferrybridge Power Station. Blow Down is expected to resonate with similar communities in the north and the urgent need for ‘levelling up’. Plus, Curious Investigators, an interactive engineering adventure for young scientists of 3-7 years old, and their grown-ups. A fourth and final production is also yet to be confirmed.

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Two free stand-up comedy courses will also be held at The Grove Hall from the 18^th of January and The Cluntergate Centre from the 22^nd of January, run by comedian Alex Dunlop. The courses will provide attendees with an introduction to stand-up comedy and teach them the basics of creating and developing material, and delivering it to audiences. Alex also runs the Armley Comedy Club for Leeds Playhouse, which is funded by Comic Relief and won the Best Age Friendly Outreach Award at the Fantastic for Families Awards 2022.

As well as this, at The Queen’s Mill Castleford from the 12^th of January, Red Ladder will host its popular actor training course, Red Grit, a free and flexible alternative to formal acting training led by Red Ladder’s Artistic Director, Rod Dixon. Open to anyone who wants to explore their potential as an actor, the eight weekly sessions will teach attendees how to create a character, develop relationships and work as an ensemble. Also at The Queen’s Mill, the venue will host an Arts At The Arms event (12th December) providing an evening of cabaret from the best talent in the region.

For full details on how to sign up to the Stand-up Comedy courses and Red Grit, audiences should visit Red Ladder’s website here: https://www.redladder.co.uk/news/

To buy tickets to attend Arts At The Arms at The Queen’s Mill, visit Red Ladder’s website here: https://www.redladder.co.uk/whatson/arts-at-the-arms/

The performances were supported with a Culture Grant by Wakefield Council.

The Real Stories of the People Behind Blow Down

Blow Down is a new play by award-winning playwright, Garry Lyons, a gritty musical weaving the voices of local people from Ferrybridge and Knottingley, into a thought-provoking piece of theatre.

The play begins with the fall of the cooling towers at Ferrybridge Power station,  focusing on an employee with 30 years of service, lamenting:  “I spent a lifetime trying to keep that place going. Now it’s gone in seconds.”

The focus of the play is very much loss, as much about the fall of a community as the dramatic collapse of two cooling towers. A community that feels left behind; sold on a promise of stable work for generations to come, that was ultimately unfulfilled in a single generation.  We talked to two of the main contributors to the play – Yan and Margaret –  whose stories are brought to life by the actors on stage.

The people behind the voices of the stage production tell the tale of a once-thriving community, fading due to neglect and lack of investment. But also that of an enduring community, despite the demise of the physical space, and the importance of theatre in giving a voice to those who feel they have been ignored.

Between 2020 and 2022, the cooling towers of Ferrybridge Power Station in Knottingley were demolished, marking the end of nearly a century of history tied to the production of energy. Inspired by this, Garry Lyons gathered the stories and experiences of the local community living in the shadow of the towers and created Blow Down, mapping the fortunes of a post-industrial Yorkshire town from the 1970s to the modern day.

Yan, whose heritage was tightly interwoven into the local community, and Margaret, whose family moved to Yorkshire from Scotland to work in the pits, both had their stories conveyed verbatim. The play tracks their experiences and others growing up in the thriving community that existed around the Ferrybridge Power station and pits, and its eventual decline.

Margaret and Yan both speak fondly of growing up in the shadow of the towers and talk of a community forged together despite their differences. Margaret moved to the area in the 1960s from Scotland, moving as her family sought work in the Kellingley Colliery. She was one of many, as a large group of workers from Scotland and Durham moved to Knottingley and Ferrybridge in pursuit of work at the power station or mines.  “We built a little Scotland,” she says, “right here in Yorkshire.”

Yan’s family had lived in the area for generations, and thus he can give a different perspective on how the local population reacted to the influx of new inhabitants. Both talk of initial hostility between the two communities thrust together by circumstance. Concerns about jobs and housing, and as Margaret jokingly puts it, “the Scots stealing the women” caused friction.

However, over time greater cooperation occurred between the groups, as it appeared the new population could create jobs rather than take them away. A new more cohesive community could be born.

Yan’s family gained work through this new influx of people and a shared community was allowed to flourish. “On Warwick estate” Yan notes “ You left your doors open, not just unlocked,  from Christmas to New Year’s and people went in and out of people’s houses as they pleased, celebrating with one another.” Garry Lyons brings these experiences to life in Blow Down, with Margaret’s warmth and wit alongside her fellow Scot, Anna, a large presence in the play, illustrating the camaraderie that developed among those living in the shadow of the towers.

Both Yan and Margaret talk fondly of their time growing up in the area. While nostalgia can make us look upon the past with a rose-tinted view, their accounts tell of a local community thriving. A whole host of pubs littered the landscape, and a community centre funded by miners’ wages tells of a population invested in the ties to their local community.

Margaret recalls packed clubs being a regular occurrence, she said:  “It was always busy. They used to have busloads in. They used to have to shut the doors because they couldn’t let anyone else in!”

Even a locally renowned carnival, reminiscent of that of Notting Hill, was an annual celebration going back decades. Yan says “people would spend weeks making outfits. It was massive!” Their accounts reflect what Garry seeks to encapsulate in his play, a working-class community that forged close bonds, despite the difficult and sometimes dangerous jobs they carried out.

Both Yan and Margaret speak of a community once thriving, and both too speak of anger at its decline. Yan points to the decline in industry leading to slow neglect of the area. Yan says “There’s nothing here now, there’s no investment in the community. It’s the same as loads of little mining towns in the North.”

The power station and the colliery were gradually drawn back in scale decades before the eventual blowing up of the cooling towers leading to a gradual dismantling of local community ties. They argue that community hubs remain underfunded and public services that were once provided are now taken away. Yan in particular notes promises that a swimming pool would be kept open, something of particular importance with the community being surrounded by waterways. He said “I have the letter somewhere. They promised they would keep the swimming pool open, promised they wouldn’t shut it. That’s gone now.”

The thriving social scene of pubs has now been reduced to a handful of sites, and the community centres have one by one been redeveloped. Knottingley Community Hub originally funded by the labour of the miners fell into disrepair, a microcosm for a community built on the promises of prosperity for generations to come, now broken.  

The picture you get from talking to both Margaret and Yan is a sense of anger at the state of their community, left to fade unheard. Yan notes “people don’t know what they’ve lost because they’ve not experienced it.”

Margaret herself says that she feels “their history has been being rubbed out.”

While anger at the fading of community is a through line in both Blow Down and the accounts of Yan and Margaret, you also can get the sense of an eagerness to sustain their social ties and celebrate their community regardless. Yan himself has made substantial efforts to preserve the voices of the local community. He interviewed significant figures from the area, recording their accounts for perpetuity and sharing the stories of people who have since passed away. He also created a Facebook page for people to share their stories growing up in the area, strengthening social ties that had been strained by time and distance. Yan noted it was a place to “post pictures, memories, get people talking despite living miles away.”

On this fertile ground, Garry was able to create Blow Down, amplifying the voices of people eager to share their experiences. Blow Down allows a creative expression for the community, something lost with the shutting down of pubs and halls, which put local comedians and performers out of business. This makes it all the more important that Red Ladder theatre company is bringing the Theatre Royal Wakefield production of Blow Down to local venues, hopefully reigniting the creative scene in the area. Local people can see their stories dramatized on their doorstep.  

Margret and Yan both articulate their excitement at the play to possibly draw attention to the difficulties of the area and instigate change. Blow Down captures the voices of people who believe they have been unheard, bringing those voices to new ears in non-traditional venues,  potentially inspiring the change that the community seeks.

The Theatre Royal Wakefield production of Blow Down has been brought to Cluntergate Centre, Queens Mill and Grove Hall, courtesy of a Wakefield Council Culture Grant.  Red Ladder Theatre Company collaborated with The Cluntergate Centre to secure its Theatre for Wakefield Project, funded by Wakefield Council to bring professional theatre productions and performances to non-traditional venues, bringing Blow Down to the doorsteps of the community that inspired it. 

The Theatre for Wakefield Blow Down shows will be performing at: 

Friday 17th February – Grove Hall, South Kirkby

Saturday 18th February – The Cluntergate Centre, Horbury

Sunday 19th February – The Queen’s Mill Castleford, Castleford

Tickets for the three shows are available to buy via the Theatre Royal Wakefield website:

Blow Down Tickets

The full Blow Down tour dates can be found here:  Theatre Royal Wakefield

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