Moving story of folk star Woody Guthrie

IT is easy to view Woody Guthrie's life as a tragedy.

The singer-songwriter and folk musician was raised during the Great Depression, travelling the country singing poignant ballads like Vigilante Man, Pastures of Plenty and the anthemic This Land is Your Land, which earned him the nickname the "Dust Bowl Troubadour".

He was born with Huntington's Chorea, a hereditary degenerative disease which results in violent tremors and dementia. It killed his mother and confined him to a hospital bed for the last 10 years of his life, before eventually killing him, too.

But Guthrie's name lives on and his story has transcended his painful life. Not only was he a spokesman for a whole generation of downtrodden Americans during the 1930s, but he inspired songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton and Bruce Springsteen, while many of his old recordings have been archived in the Library of Congress.

Now, Guthrie's remarkable and heart-wrenching story has been adapted for the stage by Interplay Theatre, based in Armley, Leeds. This Land: The Woody Guthrie Story interweaves the troubadour's life story, from rousing gigs at rallies and transit camps to the darker days when disease gripped his body. The show, which runs at West Yorkshire Playhouse until tomorrow night, follows his life from the dustbowls of Oklahoma to the bright lights of New York, and documents the life, loves and songs of a figure recognised as one of the most extraordinary influences on modern music.

Guthrie travelled his homeland often performing with the slogan "This Machine Kills Fascists" displayed on his guitar, and was writing protest songs about class inequality long before the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War became social touchstones in the Sixties.Interplay's artistic director Steve Byrne, author and director of This Land, spent years researching his subject and has developed the show from one which was first performed at local schools.

"It wasn't so much the music that interested me but the arc of his story. It's like a latter-day Greek tragedy and if Shakespeare was alive today, it's the kind of story he would have been drawn towards," says Byrne.

The songs and lyrics used in This Land are taken from recordings of Guthrie's interviews and performances, which are then brought to life by five actor-musicians.

"He grew up during the time that recording and film first started. He travelled across America in boxcars writing about his experiences on an old typewriter and I think beyond this idea of Woody Guthrie the mythical hero, and political radical, he was a brilliant writer and people often forget about that." Byrne believes the global economic crisis and the similarities between now and the era that Guthrie chronicled, make his message all the more pertinent.

"Through his music, Guthrie told the story of the downtrodden, of people who didn't have a voice. And I think if you look at what has happened in the world in recent years with the collapse of the banks, there's a relevance to what he was saying."

Guthrie's body finally gave out in 1967, but more than 40 years after his death his songs remain a beacon of inspiration to people. As Bob Dylan once noted, they have "the infinite sweep of humanity in them."

This Land: The Woody Guthrie Story runs at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, until tomorrow. For ticket information log on to www.wyp.org.uk or call the box office on 0113 213 7700. (This Land is suitable for anyone aged 11+).