I’ve
noticed a recent trend in revolutionary inspired culture. A lot of new works of
art are about speaking out, fighting for rights or against establishment. Pride
the movie has enjoyed great critical success, Made in Dagenham the musical
opened this week, United We Stand a new play about the 1972 builders strike in
which actor, Ricky Tomlinson was involved.
Is it just
a happy coincidence or does this say something about rumblings in life today?
The news now tells stories of strikes popping up over the country; tube
workers, teachers and this Monday, NHS workers in Bolton will be on a picket line for 4 hours over pay disputes.
I bloody
loved Pride the film. I went with my Mum on a quiet Thursday afternoon and left
feeling elated and inspired. Not only are the cast sublime (to me, Imelda Staunton
can do no wrong) but it is a story that was relatively unknown amongst ‘Joe Public’,
how? The battles fought by both the mining and gay communities are humbling as
you sit munching a £5 bag of Malteasers. Real prejudice, real poverty and real
dangers, all tackled with humour and pathos.
Made in
Dagenham was a successful film and I hope that the musical will enjoy the same
support. I saw the company performing on Sunday Night at the Palladium, belting
out with banners lyrics of repression, frustration and determination. Women
fighting to be heard, not an unfamiliar story to many women today across the
globe.
Ricky
Tomlinson spoke on Radio 4 about the play United We Stand; he collaborated with
the writer to tell his story of being jailed as a result of being part of the
first national strike in the building industry to beat the government. It is
touring the UK this autumn and contains poetry from Tomlinson’s time in jail.
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| Ricky Tomlinson in the 1972 Builders Strike |
I have
always admired a drama school friend of mine who would go on anti-war rallies
as a student and always sticks to his strong principles - but he was an anomaly
in my social group. In our parents’ generation
(or so films like Forrest Gump or Billy Elliot would have us believe) people
spoke out a lot more for what they believed in. Things have to become so
unbearable that there is no other option than to fight. Do we take too many
things sitting down these days? In my industry, actors often shout (well, project
and support) when Equity does daft things but they rarely take action for fear of
the hoards of younger, cheaper actors queuing up happy to step in and replace
us. We have little solidarity in our union sadly because so many are desperate
to work at any cost.
But
outside of actors’ salaries, what about everyday life in Britain? Russell Brand
recently spoke out citing a call for a ‘revolution’; whatever your feelings
about this man with big hair and big ideas you can’t help but admire this
passionate wordsmith. Maybe life is being to come full circle and we will be
forced on to the streets once again as past generations were in the 70s and 80s.
I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t seethe at the sight of today’s politicians
smarming on our TV screens.
I feel
ashamed that I don’t seem to have such passion burning in my belly. I have
never marched with a banner or protested for a cause. The nearest I have come
to revolution is climbing the barricades every night for 2 years in imaginary
1832 Paris at The Queen’s Theatre. Again, this glorious show celebrated its 29th
anniversary this week, proving that audiences love to watch people fighting for
what they believe in. That being said, I cannot deny the feeling of fire and
puffed up pride an actor feels when marching in that infamous Les Mis ‘V’
formation so I can only imagine what it may have been like for the miners and
gay rights activists in the 1985 Pride march.
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| My 2004 cast including my dynamic drama school friend (I was there but cut off the left corner!) |
Now that I
am away from those wonderful barricades the only time that passion forces me to
speak out these days is when my boyfriend fails to turn off the bathroom light or safely behind my windscreen as I yell at an inept gym-honed
blonde-highlighted drivers of 4x4s in the villages of Surrey. Hardly a worthy outlet for passion.
“....the purpose of playing, whoseend, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold as 'twere themirror up to nature...”Hamlet - Act 3 Sc.2
They say
that art reflects life so have we reached a time in our relatively passive
society where speaking up is the only answer? Or do we just enjoy watching
others do it?
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