Red Ladder Theatre Company in collaboration with Unite the Union We’re Not Going Back

Acclaimed musical comedy about the 1984 miners’ strike returns this autumn 

To mark the 40th anniversary of the 1984/85 miners’ dispute, Red Ladder Theatre Company, in association with Unite the Union, presents We’re Not Going Back, a hard-hitting musical comedy written by Boff Whalley about the miners’ strike as seen through the eyes of three sisters.

We’re Not Going Back is set in the midst of the miners’ strike but, in this hard-hitting musical comedy, there are no miners. Instead, we follow 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’.

Following a sell-out spring tour, the re-booted show is touring to a number of venues across Wales and the North of England this October with an exciting new cast featuring Rachel Gay (Olive), Keeley Fitzgerald (Mary) and Daisy Ann Fletcher (Isabel) as the three sisters. Musical director Beccy Owen and director Elvi Piper both reprise their roles.

Originally commissioned ten years ago, writer and founder member of Chumbawamba, Boff Whalley explained why he chose to focus on the women’s Stories. “I wrote We’re Not Going Back because Unite the Union had asked Red Ladder to create some kind of theatrical commemoration. My first thought was, ‘yes, I’d love to write a musical about the strike’. But I didn’t want it to be about miners and cops fighting on picket lines. I wanted it to be about the women who embodied the spirit and passion of the times.

“So myself and original director Rod Dixon 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).

“I’ve always found writing dialogue for female characters more fun than writing for male characters – women talk to each other; they get down to brass tacks a lot quicker than men. In that sense this play was a joy to write. And the music – working with Beccy and the cast has been an absolute privilege. They have such amazing voices, and there’s such a sisterly bond between them all. I’m not ashamed to say that when they sing ‘What Price Coal?’ it still makes me cry. And then again, they’re just as likely to make me laugh at a joke I’ve heard a hundred times.”

Director Elvi Piper said: “We’ve stripped back the set to play with a collection of choice props to tell this story in a way that reflects the resourceful, practical, enterprising spirit of our three heroines and ties us to the era.”

She added: “The shockwaves of the strike have shaped the lives of generations to come, and the experiences of the play’s characters 40 years ago are eerily and frustratingly familiar today. 

“I’ve been overwhelmingly inspired by the incredible true stories of defiance, empowerment, and determination in the face of adversity that this process has thrown in my path; and I hope audiences will be too. I hope they’ll leave this show inspired, outraged, smiling, swearing and singing – entertained, affected and even ‘changed’ by the art on the stage in front of them.”

For more information and to book tickets visit We’re Not Going Back – Red Ladder Theatre Company