artswith Rally Songs for the longest strike
On the eve of the First World War, 66 pupils in a rural Norfolk school walked out of their classroom in support of their sacked teachers. They never returned. This September, musicians will be singing their praises from a stage at the school built to replace the one they abandoned during the longest strike in UK history. This year’s Burston Strike School
Rally takes place on 4 September with music by Steve White and the Protest Family (pictured) Attila the Stockbroker and bands from the NASUWT and the Banner Theatre. Speakers include TUC president
Liz Snape, ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan and, at the time of going to press, shadow chancellor John McDonnell. White told Arts with Attitude:
“We’ve often said that you’re as likely to fi nd us singing on a picket line as you are to fi nd us in a music venue, so performing at the Burston Strike School Rally will be like a home from home for us. As a band of trade unionists and activists, we’re honoured to be part of rally.” Teachers Tom and Kitty Higdon
were dismissed on 1 April 1914, found guilty by the Norfolk Education Authority of gross discourtesy after Kitty was
24 | theJournalist
reprimanded for lighting a fi re without permission; she had lit it so children who had walked three miles to school in the rain could dry their clothes. However, the couple’s real crime
was to complain to the authorities about the condition of the school itself, namely the damp, poor heating and lighting, lack of ventilation and general unhygienic conditions. Of the school’s 72 pupils, 66 went
on strike in support of their teachers. The authorities cracked down on parents, but truancy fi nes were paid by well-wishers as the strike became a central issue for trade unionists and school reformers. Lessons resumed on the village
green and, later, in a local carpenter’s premises until a national appeal, supported by unions, raised enough money to build a new school. Lessons continued there until 1939. The rally is one of several UK
Labour movement cultural events, along with the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival in Dorset, the Women Chainmakers’ Festival in the West Midlands, the Matchwomen’s Festival in London and Merthyr Rising in the Welsh valleys.
https://burstonstrikeschool.
wordpress.com/2016-rally/
attitude
by Tim Lezard
Comedy inspired by nail bars and tax avoiders, 1984 is back after its international run, Moazzam Begg’s confession, gritty realism on screen, traditional Irish music, the Green Man Festival, industrial photographs, and war, peace and knitting
COMEDY Marcus Brigstocke: Why The Long Face?
In Edinburgh, then on tour Austerity, Donald Trump, cheese strings, George Osborne, being single, Isis, the Daily Mail, tax avoiders and the inexplicable popularity of nail bars has prompted comedian and broadcaster Marcus Brigstocke to hit the road with Why The Long Face? He follows a 10-night run in Edinburgh in August with a nationwide tour in September, boasting that during his last tour “there was a fi re and almost no one died”.
www.marcusbrigstocke.com
THEATRE 1984 Until 29 October Playhouse Theatre, London NUJ member George Orwell’s classic tale of government surveillance and censorship returns to London following its acclaimed international tour in Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan’s hugely successful adaptation. Set in the year of its title and inspired
by the novel’s appendix, this stage version charts the story of Winston Smith, an employee of the Ministry of Truth who spends his working days rewriting newspaper articles to make
history support the views of the Party. Exploring a dystopian future where individualism and independent thought are outlawed, the show follows Winston as he begins writing a diary and falls in love under the watchful eye of Big Brother.
http://1984theplay.co.uk
FILM The Confession On limited release from 12 August From supporting the Bosnian mujahideen to being imprisoned in Bagram and Guantanamo, from the rebel training camps in Syria to the cells of Belmarsh prison in Britain, Moazzam Begg (pictured) has experienced a generation of confl ict. He has never been convicted of a crime nor brought to trial. This is his fi rsthand account of what
forced that confession – a story of terror, torture and rendition. It looks at the rise of modern jihad, its descent into terror and the disastrous reaction of the West.
http://dogwoof.com/ theconfession
BOOK
The Day the Music Died: a Life Lived Behind The Lens
by Tony Garnett Constable, hardback, £20 Tony Garnett – working-class hero, socialist revolutionary and ultimately Hollywood producer – is responsible for some of the most memorable television to appear on our screens. Up The Junction, Cathy Come Home and This Life were landmark dramas that changed the way television was made and, in some cases, changed society. He pioneered the gritty social
Some of the best things to
see and do with a bit of political bite
For listings email:
journalist@NUJ.org.uk
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