THEATRE
****

The radio crackles into life it’s the morning news, Margaret Thatcher is dead and so begins the play called dust.

Dust is a political drama that takes us into the life of Arthur Scargill the firebrand leaders of the NUM who took the miners out on strike in 1974 and again in 1984 and the one man Maggie openly hated. It also takes a look at Arthur James Cook another mine union leader whose general strike in 1927 brought about his premature death at the age of 47 just a few short years later. The play has been commissioned to mark the 30^th Anniversary of Scargill’s election to the post of president of the union. It is a fictional play using real life characters with the intention of showing what the average miner went through at the face of the strike along side Scargill’s fight against Thatcher that ultimately didn’t succeed.

West End and national Actor Michael Strobel takes on the role of Scargill to great aplomb as a man so many years past his prime but still scared and flawed by the battle that ensued during the 80’s. Stewart Howson plays Lawrence the bitter miner who fought hard and lost everything in the miners strike before selling out and taking the compensation offered by the government. It’s his excellent portrayal that drives the play on. Both are joined by John Sackville and Alice Bernard and an outstanding performance from Lucinda Curtis as Barbara the most human of the character who lost more than money or respect during the strike and gives a powerful and emotional performance throughout.

This really is an exceptionally well directed and crafted piece of theatre which gets the mind working and reflecting on a period in recent history which saw the destruction of an entire industry which left us with sad fact that despite having many, many years of coal supplies under our very feet, The UK imports 90% of its coal. This is one play worth the watching.