The Garden of England – researched over ten months in the 1984 miner’s strike.
“Far from self-indlulgent agitprop, though it comes with the odd rousing song, it’s a quiet, downbeat piece, which takes us into the canteen of a Kent miners’ club and presents us, among other things, with an argument about which is the more taxing task, feeding scores of children or serving on the picket line. These aren’t jutting chinned heroes, but ordinary people with ordinary foibles and ordinary flaws – and ordinary desires, such as preferring not to loose their jobs, villages, homes and furniture.” Benedict Nightingale, New Statesman
“The performance made a marvellous evening, recalling the great days of the Unity Theatre in the 30s. The play affirms the power and beauty of working people fighting together.” Tom Vaughan, Morning Star
l-r Pip Donaghy, Linda Broughton, Derek Thompson, Eve Bland
