Play: Wonderland

On Sunday evenings, Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) seems to be making a habit of watching the plays streamed on the Hampstead Theatre website - on their last day of availability. Of course, they do it too late in the day for me to attend - so I just watch earlier. This week, it's Wonderland - so that's what I watched today.

The story revolves around the UK miners' strike of the early 1980s. It's atmospheric - from the start, you're plunged into darkness along with the miners, almost the only light coming from the torches on their helmets. Lovely singers they are, too - they treat us to a few working songs from time to time, to set the scene. The camaraderie is undoubted - in fact, my one criticism of the play is the long, long time they spend setting this up. We get to know them well, and this is crucial - but the whole thing is at least half an hour too long.

Contrast their scruffy, but happy existence with the besuited snobbery of the Tories, as we see a Tory minister meet the American head of the Coal Board: who strolls in with his hard-nosed American ideas that there's over-employment, that the miners could be better replaced by machinery, and who poo-poos the notion floated by the minister, that coming down hard will lead to a strike. Nonsense, says he - it'll scare them to see mines close, which will make them work harder to keep their jobs! Yeah, not really.. not with the determined Arthur Scargill as head of the miners' union.

A national strike in progress, the government scrabbling to find alternative energy sources to keep the power on, as no coal is being dug - what's a poor Tory government to do? Wait and see, as they bring out the big guns. I winced at the playing of part of Maggie Thatcher's speech, after she insisted that the conference she was attending, which had just been bombed, should continue. But even without having her on stage, the character that might be representative of her represents the worst of the British establishment. Initially laughed at as a workshy, privileged fop, he reveals himself not only to be as ignorant of the North of the country as of the dark side of the moon (as Tories have always been), but also with a backbone of steel. Watch as he shows the shocked American what hard-nosed business tactics really mean, as the Tories take things farther than he ever would have..

A really powerful piece in the end, worth sticking with. Showing till 10pm tonight. Highly recommended, most educational, and still quite topical.

Tomorrow, again, we get the results of the London Literary Walks weekly quiz. Great idea! Of course, this would be the month that the walks would normally start up again - this will just have to do us for the foreseeable.

And tomorrow evening, UITCS has yet another event organised - this time, a YouTube viewing of the opera, La Giaconda. (Sorry, that link starts a bit into it - but I can't figure out how to correct that. And I advise you to click the subtitles button if you don't speak the lingo!) As usual, too late in the evening for me to attend - but I'll just watch earlier.