Red Ladder revive miners' strike play We're Not Going Back

Ex-Chumbawamba band member Boff Whalley was behind the script and lyrics, aided by musician Beccy Owen. The company is restaging the production, with the original director Elvi Piper also returning. Described as a ‘hard-hitting musical comedy set in the 1984/85 miners strike that follows the fortunes of three sisters determined to set up their own branch of Women Against Closures’, We’re Not Going Back is receiving a timely revival this spring.

Director Elvi Piper says: “It’s the story of the resilience of working class communities against unfathomable odds, packed with humour, song and a six pack of Babycham.” The new production is not only a reunion of the creative team behind the scenes – the actors who took part a decade ago also return, with Victoria Brazier, Claire O’Connor, Stacey Sampson and Beccy Owen reprising their roles. The tour, which takes in Leeds, Sheffield, Huddersfield, Doncaster, Scunthorpe, Wakefield, Washington, Barnsley, Hull and Goole – almost all of which were deeply affected by the strikes – opened, appropriately, on International Women’s Day, Friday, March 8.

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Whalley says: “I wrote We’re Not Going Back because Unite the Union had requested of Red Ladder some kind of theatrical commemoration. My first thought was, yes, I’d love to write a musical about the strike. But I don’t want it to be about miners and cops fighting on picket lines. I want it to be about the women who embodied the spirit and passion of the strike.

“So myself and director Rod Dixon went and met with some of the women involved in the Women Against Pit Closures support groups. They were hilarious, fantastic, full of stories, some of which made their way into the play.”

In the musical comedy, there are no miners. Instead, it follows the fortunes of three pit-village sisters, Olive, Mary and Isabel, hard hit by the Government’s war against the miners, and determined to fight back with their own branch of ‘Women Against Pit Closures’.

It’s February 1984, and as the rumour mill stirs with developments of impending pit closures, the coal miners’ unions anxiously prepare for the imminent war against the government. Forced into unemployment, miners and their families take up the fight and become part of a battle that will change the course of history. With music, comedy and grit, the three sisters embrace the values of the ’84 strike and underline the empowerment; determination and vulnerability communities were faced with in this war.

Karen Reay, Unite the Union’s Regional Secretary, says: “Unite the Union North East, Yorkshire and Humber Region, and our very own Women’s Committee, are proud to be working with Red Ladder to re-stage We’re Not Going Back. “Marking 40 years since the start of the miners’ strike, what better way to celebrate International Women’s Day than with this emotional and funny play, shedding light on the vital role of women during the strike. Looking back and learning from our history is vital to looking to the future of the trade union movement. This play is as poignantly relevant today, as it was 10 years ago when it first ran.”

Writer Whalley agrees. “It remains an important story to tell and instead of focusing on the battle between miners, police and government, we shine a light on the thousands of women who organised and rallied in support of the strike. For me, the strongest part - the heart of the miners’ strike - was always the family support, specifically the wives, mothers, sisters and daughters.

“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.”

This time around, says Whalley, that ten years on from writing this play, and forty since the strikes, it was noticeable that on day one of rehearsal the conversation turned to the continuing fight for justice for ‘the miners arrested and beaten at Orgreave’. “I hope that this play can honour that ongoing campaign, and the history of such a defiant moment, 40 years on.”

Touring. For details and tickets visit redladder.co.uk