Pitmen Painters
Pitmen Painters
Posted: 08 Oct 2009
Pitmen Painters, Newcastle Theatre Royal
‘Always poignant and entertaining’ could be Geordie writer Lee Hall’s epitaph.
Not that we want to kill him off. The Billy Elliot award-winning Newcastle author has painted another masterpiece here.
He has that rare ability to fashion a funny evening of popular theatre out of the big questions – art, politics, class and culture. And like his story of a miner’s son in a tutu, he avoids sentimentality and never patronises.
Pitmen Painters tells the true story of the Ashington Group of miners – spanning a period from the mid 1930s to the nationalisation of the pits in 1947 – who hired a lecturer to teach them art appreciation and became acclaimed artists in their own right.
Hall completely understands the community about which he is writing and the dialogue fair crackles with northern humour. “If you’ve come for modern art, you’ve come to the right place – these were all painted last week” is a typically gritty one-liner.
And an appreciative North East audience enjoyed the comic use of Northumbrian dialect and word play.
Director Max Roberts goes for a stripped down staging with the main five-man cast members – from the original Live Theatre cast – five chairs, a few paintings and a screen to display the work to be judged.
But the play’s charm lies in the chemistry between the four pitmen painters played by Deka Walmsley, David Whittaker, Michael Hodgson and Christopher Connel.
Connel plays Oliver Kilbourn, the most talented and self-aware of the group, who epitomises the working-class struggle. His journey is the answer to his own question – which is also the conundrum of the play: ‘You can’t be an artist and working class.’
Lee Hall could tell you a bit about that.
Michael Hamilton
Stars shine again for Sammy By Michael Hamilton Auf Wiedersehen Pet star Tim Healy and his Loose Women wife Denise Welch put their differences behind them to join with a host of North East celebrities at the 2012 Sunday for Sammy concerts - at Newcastle City Hall - to raise money to help nurture local talent. South Shields singing sensation Joe McElderry was the surprise guest and brought both sell-out three-hour shows – a matinee and evening perform...
Bryan Ferry Shepherds Bush O2 Academy 14 December 2011 Google the words ‘Bryan Ferry’ and you’re assaulted from all directions by the word ‘cool’. It’s the adjective that was grafted to his name when he first slinked onto the music scene with Roxy Music in the 1970s and it’s stuck ever since. So you don’t need me to say it (and I won’t) – but I will marvel at how he’s survived at the top of his tree for 40 years without ever seeming as if he’s trading on past ...
Janis Ian Stockton ARC 1 November 2011 Once described as ‘America’s best singer’ by Ella Fitzgerald, Grammy Award winner Janis Ian’s singing is indeed superb but it’s perhaps secondary to her talents as a songwriter. On her own career Ian said: “I wrote my first song when I was 12, had it published at 13, made my first record when I was 14, had a hit at 15 and was a ‘has been’ by the time I was 16.” Now 60, Janis has a firm following of people who have admired her work...
Stars shine again for Sammy By Michael Hamilton Auf Wiedersehen Pet star Tim Healy and his Loose Women wife Denise We...
THEATRE AND MUSICALS 17-18 ShangHi Cirque du Ciel – spectacular with over 30 performers from China Gala Durham 0191 332 40...
