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Close the Coalhouse Door: Oxford Playhouse

1:22pm Wednesday 20th June 2012 

Acclaimed as a playwright though Alan Plater was, his name is shamefully absent from all the books I possess on 20th-century theatre, including one by the senior critic of the politically right-on Guardian. Perhaps his fame as a television writer counted against him: The Beiderbecke Trilogy, A Very British Coup and episodes of Z Cars were among his work.

Two years after his death, we are reminded of the excellence of his writing for the stage in a revival of his 1968 success Close the Coalhouse Door, which visits Oxford Playhouse this week.

A collaboration between Northern Stage and Live Theatre, the production is directed with great pace and vitality by Samuel West. Lee Hall has supplied additional material that places this gripping study of miners and their trade union in the context of what we know has befallen the industry since it was written, principally the failed strike of 1984/5 and the later mass closure of the pits.
If all this sounds a little worthy and dull, please at once forget that idea. The action is delivered in a free-wheeling Brechtian style, with smashing, pointedly political songs by Alex Glasgow, accompanied by the multi-instrumentalist cast, and lots of good jokes.
The focus is the golden wedding celebrations of long-time miner Thomas (Nicholas Lumley) and his good-sort wife Mary (Jane Holman). The other family members present are their two grandsons, whom they have brought up for a reason we discover late into the play.
The elder, John (Paul Woodson), is a chippy chap who has followed family tradition to work at the local pit. He views with resentment how brother Frank (Jack Wilkinson) has broken free to study at university. His contempt is barely concealed as the lad drifts in with self-possessed prototype feminist Ruth (Louisa Farrant) in tow — as she would certainly not consider herself to be. Trouble brews, then erupts.

Also at the party are an eager young parson (Adam Barlow), trade union representative Jackie (Chris Connel) and a wise-cracking pal Geordie (Dave Nellist) who supplies many of the jokes. Example: asked about the fierceness of his ‘African whippet’, the owner replies: “It’s been like this since we cut its mane off.”
Cast members additionally take on portrayals of some of the key figures involved in the story of the miners’ long struggle for a decent life. Memorable turns include those of Adam Barlow as Harold Wilson, Nicholas Lumley as Stanley Baldwin and — astonishingly successful as a hard-hearted aristocratic mine-owner — Jane Holman as Lord Londonderry.
Until Saturday. 01865 305305 (www.oxfordplayhouse.com).

Oxford Times