This play was written by Joe Corrie, described by TS Eliot as "the greatest Scottish poet since Burns". Renowned for overtly socialist writing, Corrie wrote In Time O' Strife around the time of the General Strike of 1926. The play was often staged as a fundraiser for soup kitchens to support striking miners.
Adapted and designed by Graham McLaren for the National Theatre of Scotland, this production begs the question: what has changed in nearly a hundred years? In the 1920s, workers rights were being stripped and the widening gap between haves and have-nots was bordering on criminal. The clear answer is simply: not much. Is another world possible, we are forced to ask ourselves? Could the lives of these suffering working people have been different? Would victory have changed the political landscape for subsequent generations? Is a brighter, fairer future in our grasp?
The pitfalls in undertaking such a political piece are many and various, and McLaren largely succeeds in avoiding trite sentimentalism or crude politicking by numbers.
This is a raw, visceral, powerful piece of theatre that doesn't pull any punches.
Pre-show, we are invited into a bar scene that looks like it could be either a 1920s Fife saloon or a grubby Yorkshire pub in the 80s. Actors and band all on stage, the fourth wall down, we are invited to sing along to 'Dirty Ol' Town'. The conservatively dressed Oxford audience respond just as you'd expect! Unnerved, the four-piece band lined up at the back of the bar/stage launches into its first piece, a Gaelic rock number accompanied by choreographed movement from the actors which encapsulates the anger and frustration of the 'common man', each independent mini-scene merging seamlessly in response to the song adapted from original Corrie poetry.
The accents are true and thick, not watered down for a South of England audience, evidence of a commitment to authenticity.
An old cathode ray TV in the corner denotes 185 days of strike so far and the narrative unfolds, interspersed by energising, emotional live pieces of music which make the difference between a piece of theatre which merely rants, and one which rocks. Stealing the limelight is Jenny Reeve (lead vocalist and violinist), whose beautiful vocals sit perfectly on top of a pounding rhythm section.
We've heard the story before; it is, after all, based on a repeated real-life story of people making a stand who are pushed to the edge by a callous government, the focal point here being the stopping of Parish relief and the soup kitchens that are keeping people alive. The miners are being starved back to work - sound familiar?
The anticipated antagonism comes from those who have justice in their blood and their neighbouring scabs; a young man is sentenced to three years imprisonment for what the government consider is starting a rebellion.
The play focuses on the human story and cleverly interjects the famous Margaret Thatcher speech "these are the enemies of democracy - trying to kill democracy for their own purpose", right off the back of the revelation that one of the character's wives has been starved to death.
More bathos and texture to the characters would improve the production, but the musical and movement elements create plenty enough power to be reckoned with.
It is either ironic, perverse or apposite that this show about disempowerment is sponsored by Scottish Power!