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Mining history to mark anniversary of coal industry nationalisation
On Behalf of the People
On Behalf of the People
Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds
COMMISSIONED by the National Coal Mining Museum for England, this production of On Behalf of the People is one of the events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the nationalisation of the mining industry.
Written after extensive research at the museum and in former mining communities, Ray Castleton has created a family drama for The Melting Shop, which wears its political allegiance close to its heart.
The recognisable character types are imbued with just enough humanity to sidestep outright stereotype in a play whose focus is the generational conflict between George Mason (Ray Ashcroft) — a committed union man and Labour supporter who returned from WWI to find that the promised “land fit for heroes” was a lie — and his son Tom (Danny Mellor), a modestly aspirational veteran of the second world war.
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