Review of Loft Theatre Company production of The Pitmen Painters (2015)

How creativity, lurking below the surface, can be raised into the light. How a rough diamond, lodged in a dark place, can be polished into a shining thing of beauty...

These were the factors governing the extraordinary evolution of artistic accomplishment among the Geordie miners of the title. It’s a remarkable true story ranging from the Depression years of the Thirties to the end of the Second World War, and the play it has inspired can provide a fine theatrical experience.

This production simply does not miss a trick. It sets out to capture the very essence of Lee Hall’s affectionate tribute to the men who responded so gamely to an opportunity to better themselves by learning to participate in and appreciate art.

But the brilliance of the piece lies in its huge entertainment value, encapsulating the bluff humour of the artists emerging from the pits – literally – on their breathtaking voyage of self-discovery.

Director William Wilkinson has hand-picked a splendid cast to both complement and contrast a set of endearing characters. The rough and ready pitmen students gradually set aside their anti-capitalism epithets to acquire elements of criticism – ‘Surrealists need a bloody good wash!’ – or talk about things like non-representational art or even ‘bourgeois formalism’.

Their growing awareness through years of exhibitions and the dawning knowledge of a degree of compatibility with no less an artist than Van Gogh is delightfully realised.

The play does tend to over-state towards the end but we are never less than fully engaged by its people: Tom O’Connor’s sensitive learner, Rod Wilkinson’s by-the-book committee man, Phil Reynolds’s hilarious classroom misfit, Gus MacDonald’s war-scarred veteran.

Adding substantial depth to their environment are Andrew Cullum as the tutor who manages to inspire while struggling with his own feelings of non-achievement, and Mary MacDonald as an upper-class, self-styled and ditheringly superficial art matron.

The set designs and the overall effects are a credit to the production team and effectively enhance the merits of a spirited and, yes, thoroughly creative evening.

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Peter McGarry is an experienced, independent professional theatre critic who has agreed to review Loft Theatre Company productions.

The agreement with the Loft is that Peter is free to express his opinions for good or ill. The Loft Theatre Company has no control whatsoever over the content of these reviews and will never comment publicly on what he writes.