After the Miners' Strike

A39 and Cornish Political Theatre versus Thatcher's Britain

Farmer, Paul ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4822-038X (2023) After the Miners' Strike. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge. ISBN 978-1-80064-912-5

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Abstract / Summary

In this rich memoir, the first of two volumes, Paul Farmer traces the story of A39, the Cornish political theatre group he co-founded and ran from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. Farmer offers a unique insight into A39’s creation, operation, and artistic practice during a period of convulsive political and social change.

The reader is plunged into the national miners’ strike and the collapse of Cornish tin mining, the impact of Thatcherism and ‘Reaganomics’, and the experience of touring Germany on the brink of reunification, alongside the influence on A39 of writers Bertolt Brecht, John McGrath and Keith Johnstone. Farmer, a former bus driver turned artistic director, details the theatre group’s inception and development as it fought to break down social barriers, attract audiences, and survive with little more than a beaten-up Renault 12, a photocopier and two second-hand stage lights at its disposal: the book traces the progress from these raw materials to the development of an integrated community theatre practice for Cornwall.

Item Type:	Book
ISBN:	978-1-80064-912-5
Subjects:	Research Performing Arts > Theatre, Acting & Drama Creative Art & Design History, Geography & Environment > Cornish Studies History, Geography & Environment Performing Arts > Music & Sound Social Work & Social Policy Computing & Data Science Communication > Creative Writing Literature
Courses by Department:	The School of Film & Television
Related URLs:	https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books...
Depositing User:	Paul Farmer
Date Deposited:	05 Sep 2024 11:09
Last Modified:	18 Nov 2024 15:01
URI:	https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/5344

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