The Pitmen Painters, Lace Market Theatre - Review

Plays about coal miners typically grab the opportunity to trot out some tired old anti-Thatcher clichés. But The Pitmen Painters is more original, intelligent and wide-ranging than that, which is one of the reasons it satisfies. It's also funny, poignant and, in this production, very well acted.

Instead of using his play for clumsy, one-sided didacticism Lee Hall treats us to a fascinating polemical piece.

The period extends from the middle of the Great Depression to the immediate post-war years. The place is the North-East. The main characters, based on real-life figures, are all Northumbrians, working-class men, mostly miners, and they all paint pictures. From the outside they appear to be a cohesive "group" or "school".

In fact they spend their time together in creative disagreement. Thus the play is able to examine some big issues: what precisely do we mean by "art"; social and cultural mobility; the nature of the authentic life well lived; and the question of exploitation – who in this play is exploiting whom?

And at the finish it also forces us to ask ourselves whether the aspirations of these men for their class have been realised. It's here that the playwright actually supplies an answer – a definite no.

Besides their convincing Geordie accents, the characters are all beautifully realised. For instance, there's George Brown (Colin Treliving), the rule-mongering type who talks fluent trade-unionese; the young pragmatist Jimmy Floyd (Thomas Willis); and self-taught Communist Harry Wilson (Geoff Longbottom), who's read all the standard Marxist tomes.

The leading light is Oliver Kilbourn. Fraser Wanless plays him with conviction, when he's virtually silent and when he's having a difference of opinion with the wealthy Helen Sutherland, splendidly done by Jane Pyke. She wants to patronise Kilbourn in both senses: as in "condescending" and as in stumping up regular cash so that he can be a full-time artist.

Director Beverley Anthony rightly avoids the suggestion of any love interest between Sutherland and Kilbourn, an error at the Theatre Royal production a while back.

Lace Market newcomer, Oliver Lovley is outstanding as the tutor Robert Lyon. He's an honest man, caught between the demands of a burgeoning academic career and the desire to do the moral thing.

Since the pictures, whenever they're being discussed, are all projected onto a screen, we get to see some wonderful paintings. And there's a Tate Gallery scene where the action spills over into the auditorium and the audience is surrounded by Van Goghs. It's moving stuff.

At times Lee Hall's text wanders into anachronistically soap-like touchy-feely – someone or other says "I'll be there for you" – but it's basically vigorous and realistic.

This particular production of an excellent play adds up to an unusually rewarding evening.

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"The Pitmen Painters" by Lee Hall

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre

Even I had heard of this story before tonight and what a wonderful story it is. A group of miners from Ashington, just north of Newcastle join an art appreciation society, not quite knowing what they are looking for. Definitely not expecting what they found. Under the tutelage of Professor Lyon they develop their art and from little acorns mighty oaks doth grow. They go on to great acclaim and their paintings are exhibited in some of the most prestigious galleries of their time.

The joshing banter of the miners is richly comic, while their determination to learn and make the best of their harsh lives proves deeply affecting. As in Billy Elliot, Hall insists that culture should be available to all and that there are more worthwhile things in life than getting bladdered down the pub or sitting slumped in front of the telly. Why should the working classes be forced to make do with rubbish?

A believable cast, although some of the Northern accents were sometimes a little exaggerated and at other times not even noticeable, but on the whole quite realistic. I soon forgot to listen out for the recognisable dialect and concentrated on the warmth and the humanism of the play. There's plenty of comedy here and the lines are very natural to the characters.One of the best comic scenes come when a life model turns up to pose but as it's not in the regulations, it didn't happen, much to the disappointment of the two younger members of the class!

Speaking of naturalism and believability, Professor Lyon's character was brilliant, played by Oliver Lovley, but then again all the characters were so well played Colin Treliving as George Brown, the leader of the group, Fraser Wanless was brilliant as Oliver, the painter who had the most attention from the art luvvies with his paintings, Thomas Willis as Jimmy Floyd, James Green as the youngest member who only joined as he had nothing else to do and had no job. I love character driven roles and Geoff Longbottom had a wonderful role as the elder statesman of the group, Harry Wilson. Not a miner but a dental mechanic who repeatedly reminded us that he had been gassed in the war, Wonderful piece of characterisation.

The "life model" Susan was played by Ruth Page and the art aficionado Helen Sutherland was played beautifully ever so slightly aloof by Jane Pyke. The other secondary character was the artist Ben Nicholson played by Sean Radford.

Brilliantly cast and wonderfully acted. Even though the sets were minimal it didn't matter, the story and the individual characters of the miners carried this play through. Heart warming and full of hope this play is a very upbeat piece of theatre. Beautifully and skilfully directed by Beverley Anthony and produced by John Anthony this is well worth seeing.

Read the original article here.