In 1994 hundreds of coal miners hung up their pit boots as Grimethorpe Colliery was destroyed, along with the tight-knit working-class community that surrounded it.

Wasteland, Gary Clarke’s sequel to COAL, looks at how two generations coped in this era of radical upheaval. As we see one generation grind to a halt, we follow the next into the 90s illegal rave scene, where derelict warehouses and abandoned work spaces became home for a new-found community of music and dance.

Bringing together Clarke’s vivid physical dance language performed by a company of exceptional dancers, a community cast of singers, brass musicians, archive film footage, a powerful rave soundtrack and unique art work by Jimmy Cauty (co-founder of The KLF), Wasteland dives head first into a gritty story of loss, hope, escapism and survival.

 

Production Photos

 

Wasteland is co-commissioned by: Nottingham Playhouse, Tramway, Cast, Dance4, The Place, DanceXchange, Gulbenkian, Art31, Contact Theatre, Grand Theatre Blackpool, Civic Barnsley, Yorkshire Dance, with additional support from Lawrence Batley Theatre, Northern Ballet, Leeds Dance Partnership, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Jon Kinsey Hairdressing, Stirling Pit Women and public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Photography Joe Armitage | Graphic Design Up for Grabs