Two plays dealing with how people behave when faced with disaster are coming to Newcastle’s Live Theatre in September.
First, on 6 and 7 September, is The 56 by LUNG Theatre, the story of how, at 3:40PM on 11 May 1985, Bradford City Football Club were supposed to be celebrating receiving the Division Three championship trophy—their first trophy in 56 years—in front of 11,000 jubilant fans before the start of their match against Lincoln City. Instead, it turned into a day of appalling tragedy. A small fire broke out in the main stand at Valley Parade stadium. Within four minutes, the wooden structure was ablaze.
Using more than sixty real-life testimonies, this piece of documentary theatre pays homage to the 56 supporters who lost their lives and the more than 250 who were injured by examining the solidarity, strength and community in the face of overwhelming tragedy.
“Our hope with The 56,” said Matt Woodhead, director of The 56 and LUNG Theatre, “was to preserve the memories of survivors and witnesses of the Bradford City Stadium disaster and introduce new and particularly younger audiences to this cornerstone in northern history. Using the words of real people, our aim was to create a piece that was dramatic in nature whilst preserving the integrity of people’s testimonies.”
Gez Casey, literary manager at Live Theatre added, “this incredible play was a huge hit when it premièred at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2014, where it played to sell-out audiences before returning in 2015, the 30th anniversary of the disaster. With a strong tradition of presenting work featuring real-life testimonies and a region steeped in football tradition, we are delighted to be able to give audiences at Live Theatre the chance to see this captivating production. The 56 is a show for football fans everywhere.”
A week later, from 14 to 17 September, Live plays host to And Then Come The Nightjars, written by Bea Roberts and produced by Theatre503 and Tara Finney Productions in partnership with Bristol Old Vic.
And Then Come The Nightjars is set in South Devon in 2001. It follows Jeff, a dairy vet with a problem, and Michael, a cattle farmer, who is a problem himself. The two men have a begrudging respect for one another, usually expressed through a shared fag, a nip of whisky and some boisterous banter. But when Foot and Mouth sweeps across the UK countryside, their friendship—and indeed their whole way of life—is thrown into question. Michael watches in disbelief as his cows are rounded up and, to his horror, it is Jeff brandishing the gun.
The play stars David Fielder (Michael) and Nigel Hastings (Jeff) who was most recently seen at Live Theatre as troubled the Labour politician in Live Theatre's election drama, Torben Betts’s What Falls Apart in April last year.
And Then Come The Nightjars was a winner of Theatre503's inaugural international Playwriting Award in 2013 where it was selected as the winner from over 1500 plays. Staged at Theatre503 in 2015, it was nominated for six Off-West End Theatre Awards including Most Promising Playwright. Bea Roberts was also nominated for the Susan Blackburn Smith prize.
The Live Theatre performances are the first of a national tour which will take the production to Plymouth, Salisbury, Oxford, Taunton, Lyme Regis, Penzance, Falmouth, Torrington, Scarborough and Derby, where the tour ends on 21 and 22 October.