New Vic Borderlines will premiere a new play inspired by the experiences and ongoing action of North Staffs Miners’ Wives Association Group (NSMWAG) and its Chair Rose Hunter. On stage next week, the play will mark the 40th anniversary of the 1984 Miners’ Strike.
The Miner Birds is written by award-winning local writer and Keele University academic Lisa Blower, with contributions from NSMWAG, and celebrates the voices of women mobilised during the miners’ strike and their determination to continue fighting for their communities to this day.
The Miner Birds is a pun on the idea of ‘myna birds’ who are known for their pestering and being heavily territorial. The production is a montage of female voices performed by three actors who, through song, storytelling and poetry, breathe life into the experiences of miners’ wives past, present and looking to the future.
The 45-minute play will be performed in the New Vic Theatre’s outdoor woodland performance space at 2pm and 5pm on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 July.
New Vic Borderlines Director Susan Moffat said: “New Vic Borderlines are delighted to have been awarded funding from Keele Institute for Social Inclusion to explore the experiences of local miners’ wives and their families during the 1984 miners’ strike, in particular how they organised and supported each other, leading to the formation of the North Staffs Miners Wives Action Group. We have been privileged to work with Rose Hunter chair of NSMWAG and writer Lisa Blower who has drawn on extensive conversations with Rose and NSMWAG archive material to write The Miner Birds. We want the voices of these women and their determination to continue to fight for social justice, and their communities to inspire girls and women today to find their own voices and ability to make a difference”
Writer Lisa Blower, who also lectures in Creative Writing at nearby Keele University, said: “This project has introduced me to a group of women in my home city that I’ve long admired and to have the opportunity of telling their story through performance has been a privilege. The Miner Birds not only tells their stories from their point of view but calls us to think about what still goes on for women the world over when it comes to representing conflict and struggle, and how powerful women can be when they come together as one voice. I am so grateful to Borderlines, the New Vic and eternally to Rose Hunter and the North Staffs Miners Wives Action Group for inviting me to be part of this vital commemorative project, 40 years on since the Miners’ Strike.”
Earlier this year, in May, Borderlines’ Young People’s Theatre Company performed a different documentary piece inspired by the miners’ wives fight, The Solidarity March, at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery. New Vic Borderlines will now stage their next production marking the 40th anniversary of the strike.
The Miner Birds is free to attend but must be booked in advance. Secure your place in the audience online here or call the New Vic Box Office on 01782 717962. Please bring appropriate clothing for an outdoor performance.
Main Image by Kevin Hayes.