One of Barry Hines’ lost works will soon be making its world premiere. The play, After the Strike, reflects on the events that took place during The Battle of Orgreave and explores the miners’ strike, its aftermath and its detrimental effects on the local communities. The play is set to premier in public as a series of extracts, performed as a rehearsed reading at the Kelham Island Museum. The performance will celebrate the legacy of one of Britain’s most renowned authors and commemorate the struggles of the miners and their families.
Dr Dave Forrest from the University of Sheffield’s School of English, who has been studying Barry Hines as part of his research said: “In 1984 Barry Hines was at his creative peak. Threads, his masterpiece, had just been broadcast on the BBC. The drama-documentary’s chilling depiction of the effects of a nuclear attack on Sheffield was a thinly veiled allegory of northern working-class life in Thatcher’s Britain.
The play will be part of a new partnership between the University of Sheffield’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities and the Kelham Island Museum. After being named the Best Neighborhood in the UK and Ireland at the 2019 Urbanism Awards, the collaboration, From Brooklyn Works to Brooklynism aims to look into the ways Kelham Island was transformed into one of the most thriving neighbourhoods in the country. The collaboration will consist of a series of events and exhibitions that will explore how social phenomena such as urban regeneration, gentrifications artisan economics and hipster culture affected Kelham Island’s redevelopment.
Dr Amanda Crawley Jackson, Director of Impact and Engagement in the University of Sheffield’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, stated: “Our new collaboration with the Kelham Island Museum is looking to tell these stories while also uncovering other historical, cultural and critical precedents for this kind of urban re-imagining. We’re hoping people will join the experience and be part of the debate through exhibitions, theatre, music, talks, walks, community projects and conference-style events.”
The collaboration forms part of the University of Sheffield’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities’ wider Knowledge Exchange project, Co-Constructive Humanities, which aims to bring the arts and humanities’ unique perspective to dialogues and debates on the cities that we live in.
After the Strike: the first ever public reading of the lost Barry Hines play, will be held on Tuesday, 18 June 2019, from 7pm-9pm.
For tickets and information on the event, click here.
For the full programme of events, including ticket information, click here.
