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The Pitmen Painters

20 November 2021 @ 10:00 am - 2:30 pm

Written By: Lee Hall

Creative Team: Director: Geoff Brittain


The Pitmen Painters is based on the triumphant true story of a group of British miners who discover a new way to express themselves and unexpectedly become art-world sensations.

In 1934, the group of Ashington (UK) miners and a dental mechanic hire a professor from Newcastle University to teach an Art Appreciation evening class. They embark on one of the most unusual experiments in British art, as the pitmen learn to become painters. Within a few years, they are celebrated throughout the British art world: but every day they worked, as before, down the mines.
The play takes place between 1934-1947.

For the Geordie accents required, at audition, we are looking for potential, not perfection.


Information Session:


Audition Information: https://www.trybooking.com/BVBNV

Repeated Fieldset #:1
Date: 20/11/2021
Repeated Fieldset #:2
Time From – Time to: 10 am – 2.30 pm

 

Repeated Fieldset #:1
Role Name: Various (see below)
Repeated Fieldset #:2
Gender:
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Stage Age:
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Role Information: George Brown (stage age 35-45) Geordie accent required
George Brown was one of the oldest members of the Ashington Group. He had a reputation for being cantankerous and was among those who wanted to lay down rules for the group. He was known to chastise Jimmy Floyd for breaking the rules, and he once stormed out of the group’s work hut in a rage.Oliver Kilbourn (stage age 35-45) Geordie accent required
Oliver Kilbourn was one of only two miners who worked in the pit at the time the Ashington Group was formed. Kilbourn was one of the most passionate members of the group and continued working on his art even as other members of the group left. He painted a series of works on his life in the mines.Jimmy Floyd (stage age 35-45) Geordie accent required
Jimmy Floyd was the other miner in the Ashington Group who was consistently working underground at the time the group was formed. Like Kilbourn, he would spend most of his working life underground.

Harry Wilson (stage age 35-45) Geordie accent required
Harry Wilson was gassed during World War I and, because of the damage to his lungs, was judged unfit to become a miner. He trained as dental technician. His skills at moulding false teeth later would help his art as he created sculptures blending his art and technical skills.

Robert Lyon (stage age 40-50)
Robert Lyon was the Master of Painting at Armstrong College (then affiliated with Durham University) when he went to Ashington to teach the Workers’ Education Association (WEA) art-appreciation class in 1934. The miners didn’t connect with the religious and mythological subject matter he initially chose for his lectures, so he quickly switched his approach to art appreciation through application.

Ben Nicholson (stage age 40-50)
Ben Nicholson was born in Denham, the son of artists William Nicholson and Mabel Pryde. He studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. He experimented with figurative and abstract works as well as Post-Impressionism, Cubism, and Constructivist principles applied to art.

Young Lad (stage age 18-25) Geordie accent required
Young Lad is identified as George Brown’s nephew. He is a composite of characters of various young artists in the Ashington Group. He reflects the tight-knit community in which fathers, sons, uncles and cousins all could work in the pit.

Helen Sutherland (stage age 50-60)
Helen Sutherland was the heiress of the P&O ocean liners through her father; she also inherited a fortune from her mother. She was a devoted patron of the arts. She would become a supporter of the group, buying 19 paintings, inviting them to her home at Rock Hall, and introducing them to artists such as Ben Nicholson.

Susan Parks (stage age 18-25) Geordie accent required
Small but important role.


More Information at: therry.org.au
Season:
Wednesday, 17 to Saturday, 20 August 2022
Wednesday, 24 to Saturday, 27 August 2022
Nightly at 7.30 pm. Matinees both Saturdays at 2 pm


Contact: Geoff Brittain
ningogeoff@gmail.com
0402 012 520

Details

Date:
20 November 2021
Time:
10:00 am - 2:30 pm
Event Category:
Event Tags:

Venue

SA Australia