Greenwich Theatre to Present TINNED GOODS

Greenwich Theatre's season dedicated to emerging female theatre makers explodes into the passions of the miners' strike for one night on Wednesday March 30 with the bitter dispute in 1984/85 seen solely through the eyes of the women involved. Tinned Goods by actor/writer Fiona Whitelaw is a new touring play with a cast of women in every role from miners to police and schoolgirls to grandmothers.

"Once I started watching documentary footage of the strikes and reading background information I was totally gripped by what the women had experienced," said Fiona.

"Too often female characters are there to be 'talked to' or confided in to make the central male look better. Female stories - and working class stories for that matter - are under represented. As a writer I think it's important to see ourselves reflected on stage and screen and to tell stories that represent all cultures, communities and ways of life."

Fiona had just completed some research for an historical theatre commission when she first started thinking about Tinned Goods. "I knew I wanted to write a play which highlighted a huge public event but to explore it from the point of view of the women involved," she said.

"Although much of what happens and is said in the play is based on the truth of what happened, this is a work of fiction and I have to ask 'What if?' in exploring the family dynamics within the story. What happens to a marriage under this kind of pressure and when an event divides a community and people who believed they were friends for life?"

Fiona also believes the play could not be more relevant to what is happening today. "What has happened to our society when the ability to strike and protect our jobs has been so eroded?" she asks. "More anti-union legislation is going through parliament as we speak and my passion is to make people aware of what happened and what is happening."

Fiona is already familiar with Greenwich Theatre as chair of the local Equity branch and acting in a show supported by the theatre at the Edinburgh Festival a few years ago.

"I saw a trailer of Tinned Goods online, read the brief and listened to some of the recorded dialogue," said James Haddrell, the theatre's artistic and executive director. "I really liked it and asked them straight away if they'd like to join the season.

"Fiona is particularly interested in looking at those important parts of history always told from the male perspective. She knows the building, she's rehearsed with us and performed on our stage but she's never written anything for us before, so we're all very excited about it."

*Tinned Goods -presented by Tea and Tenacity Theatre Company, Wednesday, March 30. 7.30pm. Tickets £16 (children £13.50) including £1 booking fee. Call 020 8858 7755.

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