Posted: 24/01/11
Students take miners for a walk down memory lane
The lives of ex-miners in the Mansfield area will be re-told in a production being taken on tour by West Nottinghamshire College students this week.
Six students on the HND year 2 Performing Arts course will be acting out the parts of retired miners from local collieries; telling the stories from the industry which was the heart of many communities in the area.
The group spent some time last term interviewing over 30 retired miners about their lives underground and on the colliery surface in order to gain a deep understanding of their jobs.
Throughout the week they will be putting their adaptation of these real lives on the stage through their community theatre productions at three local miners’ welfares.
Tutor Andrew Proctor said: “These students have worked very hard on the small-scale touring and community theatre modules of their course to get to the heart of these miners’ personal stories.
“What they have created is a production which is being presented in a professional and stylised way and will tell tales of local mining lives and histories and is sure to be a hit with communities, who can relate to the characters being portrayed.”
The play, entitled ‘A Walk Down Memory Lane’, is being show at Pleasley Miners’ Welfare tonight (24 January) followed by shows at Rainworth Miners’ Welfare on Wednesday (26 January) and at Shirebrook Miners’ Welfare on Friday (28 January) from 7pm.
