Close The Coalhouse Door
Celebrating the magnificent spirit of the North East, CLOSE THE COALHOUSE DOOR is told with a wry smile, punchy dialogue and moving songs by an extended family of wives, vicars, sons, daughters and, of course, the miners themselves.
The show is an exhilarating ride through the strikes, victories and disappointments in British mining history and captures the political anger and fight for justice of ordinary people from the formation of the first Unions in 1831.
At its heart beats the joyous, soulful music of Alex Glasgow, inspired by the anthems of working people.
Acclaimed director SAMUEL WEST and award-winning writer LEE HALL bring to life ALAN PLATER’s masterpiece for new audiences in a landmark collaboration between NORTHERN STAGE and LIVE THEATRE.
Close the Coalhouse Door has all the irony and lively mischief of Oh What a Lovely War, the dark grit of Our Friends in the North, and the triumph over adversity of Hall’s own Billy Elliot.
'A tour de force in acting, directing, comedy and musicianship... This production really has to be seen. If you really appreciate good theatre then you have to see it.'
FIVE STARS WHAT'S ON STAGE
'It has heart, it has soul, it has guts, it has pathos... it also has humour and wonderful musical moments too.'
NEWCASTLE EVENING CHRONICLE
'...an iconic play in North East theatre... it retains its power, as the entusiastic reaction of the packed audience showed.'
BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE
'...This is a play you cannot close the door on and well deserved its standing ovation.'
THE PUBLIC REVIEWS
'Samuel West has revived Close The Coalhouse Door with grit and unrestrained joy.'
5/5 DAILY EXPRESS
'The beautiful writing in this play strikes right to the heart, though it is Alex Glasgow’s songs - tough as the pitmen, rich as the seam - which endure long after the curtain falls.'
THE STAGE
I went to see this last night in Richmond – knowing little about the play – and thought it was fantastic. A funny, sad and very relevant piece of theatre – not least considering that I and several hundred thousand of my fellow public sector workers were on strike yesterday. The cast were uniformly brilliant and all involved should be very proud. Was only sorry I couldn’t stay for the Q&A session afterwards and let them how much I enjoyed it.
A memorable experience. Thought provoking. Poingant finale. Well worth the standing ovation. Our appreciation to the cast and the staff at Northern Stage who made our evening.
Thoroughly enjoyed the show. How stage technicallities have moved on since the first production. Wonderful set & lighting. Acting was excellent capturing the geordie spirit but Ruth was difficult to hear at times. Did feel the emphasis was on humour in this production & lacked the punch and pathos of the miners plight experienced in previous productions but a very enjoyable evening of theatre.
Not a word of criticism - an extremely poignant play with brilliant humour, a history lesson of things forgotten and dismissed and a wonderful twist. It made me realise that we are in exactly the same situation now as we were then – just different political scenery. We can learn from this in more ways I thought possible. Go and see it if you can, it is very much worth it.
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