The Pitmen Painters - National Theatre, Lyttelton

SYNOPSIS

The Pitmen Painters

Lee Hall's The Pitmen Painters returns to the stage in London at the National Theatre's Lyttelton in 2009. The production, which ran at the National's Cottesloe Theatre earlier in 2008, tells the heartening story of a group of miners at the Ashington Colliery in North East England, and how their discovery of art led them to rub shoulders with the elite of the art world. Max Roberts directs a stunning piece of theatre that has been described as "comic, sad and stirring all in the same breath." The cast include Ian Kelly, Christopher Connel, Brian Lonsdale, Michael Hodgson, Lisa McGrillis, Deka Walmsley and Phillippa Wilson.

The Ashington Miners

The Pitmen Painters is based on a true story about the Ashington Group - a circle of miners who discovered a passion for painting during the 1930s following an art appreciation class. Lee Hall's adaptation from the book by William Feaver narrows the original group down from thirty to just five miners - and through them brings the story to life.

Robert Lyon is the story's key character. He is the tutor drafted in to teach the class after the miners fail to find someone to talk to them about economics. Lyon begins with a discussion of Renaissance masterpieces, but quickly realises that to truly connect with and inspire the miners he should encourage them to paint for themselves. This they do - and with startling results. Lyon recognises in the group their raw artistic talent, and continues to encourage them to paint when they are not working down the pit.

A local art collector and shipping heiress notices their work, and, taken by it, opens the door to opportunity for the Ashington painters. Exhibitions of their work are organised, culminating in an invitation to visit the Tate in London.

But opportunity for the Ashington miners comes at a price. Their new-found and unexpected success creates personal internal conflicts for the painters - do they continue to work down the mine as they have done all their lives, or do they capitalise upon their artistic abilities? Hall captures these internal struggles perfectly in the character of Oliver Kilbourn, the most talented painter in the group, who is offered a position as a full-time painter.

The fear of change and the inability of the miners to leave behind all they know drives the story to its saddening conclusion and the outbreak of World War II. Here, art imitates life - change comes and the Ashington painters slip back into obscurity from whence they came.

Lee Hall

Newcastle-born Lee Hall is best known as the writer behind Billy Elliot - the story of a young boy from a mining community in the North East who defies the odds to become a professional ballet dancer. In The Pitmen Painters, Hall draws parallels with the situation in which Billy Elliot found himself. However, this time the story is real…and this there are no neat conclusions.