In 1832, during a strike of the Northumberland and Durham miners, Jarrow pitman William Jobling begged for money from 71-year-old magistrate Nicholas Fairles near Jarrow Slake.
Fairles refused and another pitman, Ralph Armstrong, who has been drinking with Jobling, attacked the magistrate leaving him badly injured and the two ran off to South Shields. Jobling was arrested on Shields beach but Armstrong had vanished—it is thought he had run off to sea.
Ten days later, Fairles died of his injuries and Jobling was accused of his murder, although it was accepted that he had not actually carried out the assault. He was tried for murder at Durham Assizes on 1 August and was found guilty. He was hanged on 3 August, his body stripped, then covered in pitch and gibbeted in Jarrow Slake.
Local playwright and poet Tom Kelly and composer Steve Thompson have collaborated to write a musical, Jobling, which tells the story of the affair and the industrial unrest which led up to it.
The musical will be given a script-in-hand performance at The Word, the new National Centre for the Written Word, in South Shields, at 4PM on 24 June 2017.
Writer Kelly, who was born in South Shields but now lives in Blaydon, has been writing regionally based plays and musicals for many years, including The Dolly Mixtures (2016), Geordie the Musical (2015), I Love Kent Walton (2013), Baby Love (2004) and Dan Dare – the Musical (2003).
Thompson also has wide experience and has written songs that have been recorded by Celine Dion, Sheena Easton, Elkie Brooks, The Hollies, The Searchers, The Tygers of Pan Tang, Baby Ford, Colin Blunstone, Elaine Page and Chris Farlowe.
The reading will be directed by Jonathan Cash, of Baby Love Productions, based in Blaydon. Cash toured a 2016 revival of Baby Love around the region with his wife Helen Cash. He also appears in the show as Lord Melbourne, the Home Secretary, and Helen Cash plays Isabella Jobling, the title character’s wife.
Jobling will be played by Michael Skoyles, miners' union leader Thomas Hepburn by Dan Greener. Ralph Armstrong, the pitman who struck the fatal blow, is played by Stephen Mason and Bethanie Johnson plays Elizabeth Turner, Isabella’s sister.
Westoe Brass Band will provide the accompaniment and the musical director and arranger is Lee Morris.
There will be an audience feedback / Q&A session after the show with the writers.
Tickets are £3.50 and can be booked online.