Ron's rages are sincere and — according to his wife — healthily cathartic. But can these splenetic outbursts loosen the grip of capitalism at its most monstrous?
There is a Light That Never Goes Out: Scenes from the Luddite Rebellion
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
★★★★★
Apparently we are in the midst of the second industrial revolution. If last week’s report into Manchester’s booming textile trade is accurate, then Yeatman and Mooney’s fabulous play is very timely.
The report highlighted a booming sweatshop industry where workers are forced into long hours, paid well below the minimum wage and non-existent health and safety.
Jump back 200 years to a similar picture faced by weavers with the introduction of automated looms.
PAUL FOLEY revels in the coolest, most joyful piece of theatre you’ll get this summer
GEOFF BOTTOMS recommends an inspiring, political and bittersweet account of the munitions factory workers who are the fore-runners of the modern women’s game
Although this production was in rehearsal before the playwright’s death, it allows us to pay homage to his life, suggests MARY CONWAY
Remembering the 1787 Calton Weavers strike, MATT KERR argues that golden thread of our history needs weaving into the fabric of every community in the land


