Queen Coal

Crucible Theatre, Sheffield 

3/5

ON THE same day that Margaret Thatcher was being given a state funeral in London, effigies of her were burned on bonfires across South Yorkshire. 

That regional divide is the starting point for Bryony Lavery’s new firebrand play, which explores how friends and communities were divided by the 1984-85 miners’ strike, as well as the impetus it gave to wider political protests. 

Raised in Wakefield and formerly married to a miner’s son, Lavery is well qualified to comment on the strike and there are times when the play’s three characters come across as  talking heads for her own views. 

There’s thus a slight element of caricature, with resentment towards the decision of Justine (Julia Ford) to abandon her family to move to the capital being directed at her cashmere jumper and avocado-eating habits. 

Her sister-in-law Maggie (Kate Anthony) is the chain-smoking straight talker whose hatred of her namesake continues to burn but whose kin have now taken precedent over active protest. 

There is, nonetheless, a strong sense of community in the use of audio clips of Thatcher, protesters and period news reports. That’s heightened by Max Jones’s design, with the audience having to pass through narrow mining corridors complete with warning signs and pipes that atmospherically clank in order to reach their seats. 

Here sparks from lit cigarettes resemble embers of energy from black diamonds and when a carpet of coal is removed it reveals the subterranean tunnels of the National Coal Mining Museum for England. 

A tourist attraction where once there was industry, it’s where former miner Ian (David Hounslow) works when not doing cookery or interior decoration classes. It’s an acknowledgement of “regeneration” in the area, along with the observation that an Aldi is now on the site of a former pithead. 

The sense of frail optimism is embodied in Justine’s politicisation during the strike, which has been transformed into her joining the global fight for change as an Occupy protester. 

Her sense of purpose, never clearly defined, obscures a shocking final scene. But Robert Shaw Cameron’s production successfully burns with the hatred of a community that is still to economically recover from the pit closures. 

Runs until November 22, box office: www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk