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In Time o' Strife

A powerful re-imagining of Joe Corrie’s neglected classic about a Fife mining community during the General Strike. Intensely physical, loud and charged with raw emotion, driven by explosive choreography and an original live soundtrack performed by leading Scottish musicians. Read more …

To raise funds for the soup kitchens feeding the miners and their starving families, Corrie wrote In Time O' Strife whilst on strike himself, exposing the brutal lives of a family staring hunger and defeat in the face.

Created by Graham McLaren (Men Should Weep, A Christmas Carol), the production uses fragments of Corrie’s other plays, poems and songs, celebrating his ability as a writer and his contribution to Scottish culture.

More information on this production is available at www.nationaltheatrescotland.com.

The critical consensus

The play’s revival is laudable, heartening and important in terms of Scottish culture but the message sadly feels like whistling in the wind in today’s climate of indistinguishable political rhetoric and lack of visible solidarity.

***(*)(*)Irene Brown, Edinburgh Guide, 04/10/2013

The director encourages an introspective style of acting that leans too heavily on the play's pathos. Given the theatrical flair elsewhere, it makes for an evening that is as uneven as it is charged.

***(*)(*)Mark Fisher, The Guardian, 07/10/2013

It is difficult to escape the fact that–even if one adds music, song and (in truth, pretty dubious) dance, as McLaren does here–the work is more interesting as a historical document than as a piece of theatre.

Mark Brown, Scottish Stage (Daily Telegraph), 08/10/2013

What it is not, however, is a well-crafted work of theatre.

Mark Brown, Scottish Stage (Sunday Herald), 08/10/2013

A memorably angry, vivid and theatrical retelling of a vital story in Scottish history.

****(*)Joyce McMillan, 07/10/2013

Verdict: Timely NTS revival and adaptation of 1920 miners strike drama.

****(*)Thom Dibdin, The Stage, 29/08/2014

The play is a searching, troubling and all-too-relevant exploration of people in an appalling situation, and probably should have been allowed to stand up for itself without all of the bells and whistles. Thanks to energetic and emotionally resonant performances all round, it mostly manages to do just that.

****(*)Hugh Simpson, All Edinburgh Theatre, 10/09/2014

Sad to say, in this case, one feels the playwright has not been best served.

***(*)(*)Bill Dunlop, Edinburgh Guide, 10/09/2014

There’s no preaching about this play, just anguish that is plain to see, and a sense that you’re damned whatever you do. Referendum anyone?

****(*)Robert James Peacock, TVBomb, 11/09/2014


Features about In Time o' Strife

Interview: director Graham McLaren on reviving Joe Corrie's In Time O' Strife

Gareth K Vile, The List, 27/08/2014

Where and when?

Pathhead hall, Kirkcaldy from Wednesday October 2, 2013, until Saturday October 12, 2013.

Multiple venues. Check the website for event and venue details., from Thursday August 28, 2014, until Saturday October 25, 2014.

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