Red Ladder Theatre Company and Unite the Union present
We're Not Going Back
Written by Boff Whalley, co-founder of the renowned band Chumbawamba,
75 Mines. 3 Sisters. 1 Cause. (And a six-pack of Babycham)
A hard-hittng musical comedy about the ’84 Miners' Strike through the eyes of three sisters
2024 is the fortieth anniversary of the 1984/85 miners’ strike, a dispute that still resonates today.
But the strike wasn’t just about pickets vs police – in this thought-provoking musical comedy, there
are no miners and no cops. Instead, we follow the fortunes of three sisters in a pit village, hit hard by
the Government’s war against the miners and determined to set up a branch of ‘Women Against Pit Closures’.
It’s early 1984, and Olive, Mary, and Isabel are sisters whose everyday squabbles collide with a strike
that forces them to question their lives, their relationships, and their family ties.
This strike wasn’t just a war fought on the battlegrounds of a picket line, Parliament, and public
opinion; it was as much a battle in the homes and families of those fighting for their communities.
We’re Not Going Back tackles the resilience of working communities, the make-and-mend fabric of
family, and the power of sticking two fingers up to a government hell-bent on destruction… and all
with humour, song and a six-pack of Babycham.
We're Not Going Back
Written by Boff Whalley, co-founder of the renowned band Chumbawamba,
75 Mines. 3 Sisters. 1 Cause. (And a six-pack of Babycham)
A hard-hittng musical comedy about the ’84 Miners' Strike through the eyes of three sisters
2024 is the fortieth anniversary of the 1984/85 miners’ strike, a dispute that still resonates today.
But the strike wasn’t just about pickets vs police – in this thought-provoking musical comedy, there
are no miners and no cops. Instead, we follow the fortunes of three sisters in a pit village, hit hard by
the Government’s war against the miners and determined to set up a branch of ‘Women Against Pit Closures’.
It’s early 1984, and Olive, Mary, and Isabel are sisters whose everyday squabbles collide with a strike
that forces them to question their lives, their relationships, and their family ties.
This strike wasn’t just a war fought on the battlegrounds of a picket line, Parliament, and public
opinion; it was as much a battle in the homes and families of those fighting for their communities.
We’re Not Going Back tackles the resilience of working communities, the make-and-mend fabric of
family, and the power of sticking two fingers up to a government hell-bent on destruction… and all
with humour, song and a six-pack of Babycham.
