Stage set to portray the lives of Joan and Jimmy

Known as the ‘Mother of Modern Theatre’, Joan Littlewood devoted her life to community and political theatre and making it accessible to the people of the North in the 1950s and ‘60s.

Joan and Jimmy, by Blaize, brings the fascinating life stories of Joan and her partner Jimmy to Wingates Village Institute.

And it also happens to be the only performance of this new play taking place in North Northumberland this spring.

It will be on stage on Friday, March 22, at 7.30pm.

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In Joan and Jimmy, we see Joan Littlewood and Jimmy Miller standing among the rubble of 1945 post-war Britain.

Jimmy Miller has changed his name to Ewan MacColl, and both are embarking on a career in radical political theatre, performing one-night stands across the North of England – early rural touring.

They founded Theatre Workshop in Kendal with a travelling troupe of storytellers and outlaws committed to the overthrow of the established order, where the rich got richer and the poor got austerity, even then.

In 1952 they would part company, Joan and the Theatre Workshop heading to London, and Ewan to the folk music world.

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Littlewood is famously quoted as saying: “I really do believe in the genius in every person. And I’ve heard that greatness comes out of them, that great thing which is in people.”

She was a trailblazer for community theatre and an inspiration to many of today’s theatre practitioners.

Joan and Jimmy is written by Jim Woodland, directed by Mike Bettison, and performed by a cast of four actors, using story and song.

To book your tickets, visit www.highlightsnorth.co.uk or contact 01669 620512. Alternatively, email [email protected]

Doors open at 6.45pm.