Wednesday, 30 September 2009

Its all just a little bit of history repeating...

None of what I’m about to write is new (there’s an irony to this opening that I hope will become clear.) All of what I’m about to write has happened before, been noted before, been documented before. Still, as I’ve witnessed it occurring on this specific occasion it has inspired me to want to note and document it all over again.

As followers of my artistic ventures may be aware, a new piece of theatre created with my youth theatre will be performed as part of the miner’s memorial service at Wakefield Cathedral this weekend. The piece was commissioned by the Yorkshire branch of the National Union of Mineworkers and they wanted to specifically focus on a local tragedy – The Lofthouse Colliery Disaster. Now, I was honoured to be asked to create this piece of theatre from the outset, but as my research and exploration of the story has progressed and my understanding of the situation has developed my sense of honour has grown immeasurably.

In addition to this revealing and fulfilling personal journey, a significant aspect of working with local history has come to my attention. As rehearsals have progressed and the young people performing have explored this historical event, they have begun talking about it. As they have started talking about it they have found points of connection with people where they least expected it. The Lofthouse Colliery Disaster occurred on the first day of spring in 1973, so it is relatively recent history, whilst talking to others about the project they’re involved in cast members have discovered neighbours who can remember the eternal and ultimately tragic wait to see if the lost miners had survived. They’ve realised that they have relatives who knew men who escaped from the torrents of water that flooded the mine and close family members who stood watching from their bathroom window as the floodlights from the rescue operation lit up the night.

These animated conversations have given the cast an insight into the things that older members of their city, their community, their family have seen. With that insight comes a curiosity and a point of contact, richer conversation and an opportunity for connection that wasn’t there before. It’s a wonderful thing to watch, as actors turn up to rehearsals full of the next discovery they’ve made, a discovery that then gets invested back into the production as a whole. It doesn’t stop there, the understanding and empathy this process of discovery encourages enriches their own performance…and their own self…

And just to think, a month ago they had no idea of what had happened on the 21st of March in 1973…

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