Radical theatre company Red Ladder are reprising their all-female musical We’re Not Going Back that tells the story of women who played pivotal roles in the 1984/85 miners’ strike.
The musical is being brought back after it was first staged a decade ago to mark the 40th anniversary of the great strike through the eyes of three very different sisters who are ultimately united by a common cause. Victoria Brazier, Claire-Marie O’Connor, Stacey Sampson and Beccy Owen are back in their original roles as sisters driven to take a pivotal role in the struggle to survive.
Red Ladder aims to remind the audience of the resilience of working-class communities, and the power of sticking two fingers up to a government hell-bent on their destruction. It was originally created by ex-Chumbawamba founder member Boff Whalley, and this production is again directed by Elvi Piper.
“For me, the strongest part – the heart of the miners’ strike – was always the family support, specifically the wives, mothers, sisters and daughters,” says Boff Whalley.
“Despite the outcome of the strike, all the hardship and poverty, the main memory of that year for the women was of laughter, fun and surprise, a big adventure. How to take on the machinery of the capitalist state and have a good time doing it.”
Full tour dates and tickets can be found at https://www.redladder.co.uk/whatson/were-not-going-back/