Promised Land lies ahead for company’s local cast

His last show starred Phill Jupitus and was staged at one of the UK’s most famous and loved theatres.

His latest show is on the stage of Leeds Carriageworks and features, among others, a plasterer, a teacher, a waitress and a trained nurse.

Rod Dixon, artistic director of Leeds company Red Ladder is at the helm of Promised Land, a new musical based on the multiple award-winning book by journalist and author Anthony Clavane. While Red Ladder is a professional theatre company and the crew working behind the scenes are staging the show as part of the company’s roster of productions, the cast are drawn entirely from the community. In other words, among the cast of 33 there isn’t a single professional actor.

Which is not to say this is an ‘amateur dramatics’ production.

“Community theatre has a bad name. Community theatre is where you have a show and everyone from the village is in it – the postman is in it because he can play a squeezebox, or a local person in a wheelchair is in it and everyone goes ‘ah’, but that person can’t act and can’t sing. I hate all that and this isn’t that sort of show,” says Dixon.

“Community theatre has to challenge and rival audiences and has to be good quality and people get to perform in shows like this only if they’re good enough. And if they do get in, then we expect them to work hard.

“I treat this company of actors as a company, not an amateur company or anything like that, just a company. There are no concessions whatsoever to the fact that this isn’t a professional company. All the work I do with them and the process I use for directing is exactly the same as the way I work with Phill Jupitus on Big Society or any other show.

“In fact, in many ways this is more rewarding because you can get some jaded old pros who can be a little resistant to some of the process which hasn’t happened with this cast at all.”

The cast of 33 was initially larger, but some people dropped out when they realised the intensity of the commitment involved in staging a full play, with music, rehearsed all day every Sunday for ten weeks and then performed for a full week at a large theatre. There are still plenty left in the cast, says Dixon, to recreate some of the Leeds United terrace scenes called for in the script adaptation.

Clavane’s book, Promised Land, won Sports Book of the Year last year and has been adapted for the stage by author Clavane and playwright Nick Stimson.

The book charts the history of Leeds United football club, but also explores the history of the city itself and in particular, the way Jewish immigration to Leeds has been bound closely to the fortunes of the football club. On stage the story revolves around a love story between Nathan and Caitlin, a young Jew and a Catholic trying to negotiate their way through a relationship – but the history of the Jewish immigrants and Leeds United remain bound up in the tale.

The show has been brought to life by Dixon at the helm, but his team includes a vast array of talent, from choreographer Pauline Mayers to musical director Berry Owen and her assistant Sam Sommerfeld, who is also assisting on the West Yorkshire Playhouse’s Loserville.

So since everyone in the creative team is professional, has it been a case of trying to get the cast of ‘amateurs’ up to standard? “The truth is, when you put your head on the pillow at night, you wonder if this is a show you would go and see yourself and the answer is, absolutely,” says Dixon.

“It’s got this amazing energy – there are 33 people on stage singing – you don’t even get to see that in West End shows because it just costs too much. We’ve already sold out several of the early shows and I believe that everyone on that stage will do a performance at least as good as most professional shows people see, if not better.

“I really hope that people will see those early shows and go out and spread the word. I think with the show we have, that will happen.”

But there’s the other issue. A plasterer, a teacher a waitress, a nurse and a “higher information analyst for the NHS” have, obviously, day jobs. How do you control a show with that many people rehearsing only occasionally?

“It’s been frustrating and it drives you mad, but I get paid to do it and everyone here is a volunteer, so if people have lives and have to miss a rehearsal, you just have to live with it,” says Dixon.

“The Arts Council tell us Great Art For All – this is my interpretation of that.”

They might give up the day jobs

Lynsey Jones – plays Caitlin, day job: Teacher.

Paul Fox – plays Nathan, day job: Plasterer.

Tony Spirrett – plays Caitlin’s dad, day job: Trainer for BT.

Catherine Land – plays Caitlin’s mum, day job: Charity PR for Sainsbury’s.

Ellen Shorrock – plays Nathan’s mum, day job: freelance illustrator/web designer.

Becky Smithson – plays Rosa, day job: Drama teacher.

David Wheatley – plays Leeds United thug, day job: Higher Information analyst.

Promised Land, Leeds Carriageworks, tonight to June 30. 0113 224 3801.