Overview

Boro playwright Alan Spence is very proud to offer this 2025 reprint on his own book label Theatre is real life, which tells the untold history of the 1980 Steel strike, some forty 45 years after it took place. It is the story of a family, a community and an industry. The play is set in Eston and at the Redcar BSC Complex and like Alan's first play, uses slides to offer both a local and national perspective. The Steel strike lasted 13 weeks, the largest strike in post-war history with the loss of 8.8 million working days. It was the first national stoppage in British steel industry since the General Strike in 1926, The new book is in three parts; Part 1: includes Dont put your kids on the stage...Mrs Worthington, a background of Alan's early attempts at performance and his journey into teaching, as well as asking a key question - Does theatre actually change anything? Where Alan explores key issues and themes on many well plays he has seen. Part 2: the full script of the play, with Part 3: production notes and examination questions related to the play for GCSE, A Level and Performing Arts.

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9781068775932

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Reviews

""With your plays, it's not just about the football and the Steel Strike, it's all about us. It's about our lives, how we live"".Kay and Tom, Drake the Bookshop signing ""If you want to know what life was like for an ordinary working-class family on Tees-side, during the steel strike of 1980, you can do no better than buy Nowt Like This in America, a superb Community Play written by Alan Spence. Thoughtful, funny, emotionally powerful, it follows thefortunes of one family, the personal being framed by the political. As an added bonus, the script is contextualised by both background material on the author and the period (heartfelt and honest) as well as production notes'. Brian McAvera Playwright and Art Critic. Having grown up in the same area and about the same time, as Alan, I can remember (and relate to) many of his stories. Those days tore families and friends apart. Some wanted to fight, others just wanted redundancy packages. The bad memories of comrades come back with this evocative play. Alan writes with a local voice, and it's almost if you're sat in a pub discussing old times. One final point. I loved the fact that ""nowt"" is in the title. I can remember many a time getting a clip off my mam for saying ""nowt"". She'd say it's nothing, not nowt. Anyone would think you were dragged up...Happy days. Peter Pinkney Former President at RMT For many of a certain age, especially those in the North East, will remember the start of the 1980's was not a joyous occasion you'd normally associate with the New Year. Instead, British Steel workers were forced to go on strike to fight for a decent wage. Behind the headlines in newspapers and on the TV many forget that there were families and communities trying to survive. Many people will relate to the characters and story of a ordinary family trying to get by. Nowt Like This in America is not just a brilliant read but a record of the times. One which perfectly captures the anger, dismay, humour and resilience of the area and its people. If you're interested in the history of the class struggle and ""Thatcher's Britain"" and the effects on ordinary hard working people then this is a must read. Francesca Hansen ""I can't claim to have read loads of play scripts but I can't recall reading any preceded by such a detailed and clear description of the creative process involved, including the influences of other plays and playwrights in shaping your thought processes through to the development of the script and actual production and performance of the work"". Pete McCarthy. The Art of Steel Home (weebly.com)

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