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Theatre in Northern England: IntroductionDateline: 4th February, 2001 Just what the words "The North" mean in England is open to controversy. To many Londoners, the north begins at Watford Gap, whereas for the North Easterner the south begins at Teesside! Manchester people would agree with Southerners that they are in the north, but for those north of the Tees, Manchester is in the Midlands! What is sure is that Northerners have a very strong sense of regional identity, and that in these days of devolution, there are strong feelings in the North about having more of a say in their own destiny. Whilst there is a distrust of central government all over the UK, in the North it is almost pathological. There is a definite North-South divide in England - even Tony Blair admits it (or he does when he is in his own North East constituency). In the North unemployment is higher and wages and house prices lower. Much of the North was built on heavy industry which has now all but vanished: the Lancashire mills, the Durham and Northumberland coalfields, ship-building on the Tyne and the the Wear. Co Durham, for instance, was built on coal - quite literally, for there were mines (or "pits", as we prefer to call them) everywhere you looked. Now there's not a single working mine in the county. In the large northern conurbations poverty is rife, with all its attendant ills: poor health, shorter life expectancy, high crime. But all is not gloom and doom. The North has some of the most beautiful countryside in England: the wilds of the Yorkshire and Lancashire moors, the quieter beauty of the Yorkshire Dales (look at scenery in Emmerdale, Heartbeat and Last of the Summer Wine), the grandeur of Northumberland and, best of all to my mind, the wonderful variety of the Lake District in Cumbria and North Lancashire. For the purposes of this survey, we can also include the awesome bleakness of the High Peak district of Derbyshire. The wonderful thing is, within half an hour's drive (at most) of all the major northern conurbations, you'll find scenery of the highest order. A visit to the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, for instance, can be combined with a trip across the Pennines, the mountainous chain which runs down the centre of northern England. Watching a play at Sheffield's Crucible can be followed by a trip to the High Peak, and after an evening at the Newcastle Playhouse watching the Northern Stage Company is action, you can be in the wilds of the Cheviots within thirty minutes. Definition For the purposes of this survey, however, we need a clear definition of what we mean by the North, and I have taken a lead from the Regional Arts Boards here and will be assuming that the North means the areas covered by Northern Arts, North West Arts, and Yorkshire and Humberside Arts. NEXT>> The Northern Arts Region: Theatres Articles Indices: |
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