Cast, Doncaster
Elvi Piper’s fine revival of Boff Whalley’s 2014 musical comedy about three sisters on a pit village frontline in 1984 is full of humour, drama and lived experience
Boff Whalley’s “musical comedy” was originally commissioned, to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1984-5 miners’ strike, by the trade union Unite, which also supports this revival. Set in a pit village, defined by “pit, church, corner shop and supermarket”, We’re Not Going Back follows the progress of events – struggles for survival, battles with intransigent authorities, media misrepresentation – through the lives of three sisters (a sly glance towards Anton Chekhov’s 1901 play).
Churchgoing Olive (Victoria Brazier) and livewire Mary (Stacey Sampson) are both miners’ wives; 18-year-old Isabel (Claire O’Connor) is dating a police cadet. Their stories are an amalgamation of fiction and of people’s memories, shared with Red Ladder theatre company. Early on in the strike, Olive sits alone beside a brazier (represented by an upturned lampshade, repurposed from the opening scene, a deft, agitprop metaphor). “What are you doing?” asks Mary. “Minding the picket line,” replies Olive. “Where are the men?” “Off holding a meeting to discuss whether to allow women on the picket!”
