One day in 2008, a radio interview grabbed the attention of playwright Tracy Ryan. Irish Department store owner Ben Dunne was trying to apologise to a former employee. It wasn't going well.

"So I was kind of like, What's this about? So I just started googling and looking around and then started to read about the strike and I was like, wow."

That employee, Mary Manning, had spent more than two and a half years on strike at Dunnes.

And Tracy had stumbled on to the story of how a small group of shop workers defied the Irish establishment.

Her play Strike was born. 

"You've got to tell the story. Tell the story with heart and truth and conviction and respect for what they did."

Fast forward to 2023. With Ardent Theatre Company, Tracy brings strike to the London stage with Kirsty Patrick Ward directing. 

"What we wanted to do was show police brutality on a much wider scale. That this actually can be happening is happening all over the world in different context."

Explore the long journey from that first spark of an idea - to opening night at Southwark Playhouse. 

Hosted by Ardent Theatre Company Creative Director Andrew Muir.

In this Episode:

1:43 - Tracy Ryan discovers the Dunnes Stores strike story

3:55 - Meeting the strikers

6:58 - Director Kirsty Patrick Ward gets hooked on the script

8:45 - Early stagings of the play rekindle interest in the strikers' story

12:07 - Kirsty Patrick Ward starts working on the 2023 production

16:09 - Edits and rewrites tighten the pacing

23:15 - Shaping characters and bringing them to life

25:40 - The show goes on stage - with the strikers in the audience

29:02 The show's over. How to the writer and director feel?

Activism in the 80s is a Creative Kin production for Ardent Theatre Company.

Executive Producer & Producer: Jason Caffrey

Production music: Ellie Parker

Mixing and Mastering: Adam Double

This production has been supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players.

Links:

https://www.ardenttheatre.co.uk/strike-about

https://www.creativekin.co.uk/

https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/

https://www.ardenttheatre.co.uk/tracy-ryan

https://theagency.co.uk/the-clients/kirsty-patrick-ward/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-caffrey/

https://www.ardenttheatre.co.uk/andrew-muir

http://www.adamdouble.com/about

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellie-parker-9ba9aa195/

Go to a typical UK theatre show, and for every 10 people in the audience, seven will be women. This isn't new. Surveys in the 1980s showed that at least half of theatre audiences were women at that time. But inside the theatre industry, women faced a glass ceiling made of stone. 

"One of the key stereotypes about women directors was that women were okay on the small scale. But large scale plays like Pravda, that sort of meaty work couldn't be done by women."

Much like today, the most important and prestigious jobs in theatre were held by not by women, but by men.

"Somebody on the board said there are too many ladies around here and not enough meat. It wasn't a pleasant environment to work in."

And for women writers, producers, directors and actors, pursuing a theatre career meant a constant fight against deeply entrenched sexist prejudice and stereotyping.

"Their stance was 'we employ the best'. And when you try to examine what 'the best' was, it was them. So it was a circular argument."

Director Sue Dunderdale hosts this exploration of the challenges faced by women in theatre with historian and dramaturg Dr. Susan Croft and producer Gill Lloyd MBE. 

Introduced by Ardent Theatre Company Creative Director Andrew Muir.

In this Episode:

1:16 - Running an all-women theatre organisation

4:26 - Key practitioners and venues

7:27 - Dealing with entrenched sexism

8:30 - The Standing Conference of Women Theatre Directors and Administrators

13:22 - Intersection with anti-apartheid and the miners' strike

19:11 - The lack of women in leadership positions

28:00 - Increasing visibility of women in theatre by the end of the 80s

Activism in the 80s is a Creative Kin production for Ardent Theatre Company.

Executive Producer & Producer: Jason Caffrey

Production music: Ellie Parker

Mixing and Mastering: Adam Double

This production has been supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players.

Links:

https://www.ardenttheatre.co.uk/strike-about

https://www.creativekin.co.uk/

https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/

http://www.suedunderdale.com/

https://www.unfinishedhistories.com/about/who-we-are/susan-croft/

https://www.unfinishedhistories.com/

http://www.unlimitedglobalalchemy.com/gill-lloyd

https://www.peopleshow.co.uk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-caffrey/

https://www.ardenttheatre.co.uk/andrew-muir

http://www.adamdouble.com/about

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellie-parker-9ba9aa195/

On a June morning in 1984, one of the most violent episodes in British industrial relations unfolded. 5000 striking miners gathered at the Orgeave Coke processing plant in South Yorkshire. They'd face an assault by some 6000 police.

"Thatcher and her cronies decided to try and smash the trade union movement and they organised set pieces in order to do that." 

As police and picketers clashed. John Hendy, now Lord Hendy KC was a legal rep for the National Union of Miners. 

Len McCluskey, later head of Unite the Union, was a full time official. 

"The miners have a special place in the heart of ordinary working people. And once they were defeated, it was really, really bleak." 

In this episode, Justice for Grenfell co-founder Yvette Williams explores how the 80s changed the face of British trade unions.

Introduced by Ardent Theatre Company Creative Director Andrew Muir.

In this Episode:

1:35 - The Dunnes Store strike as viewed from the UK

5:47 - The unions fail to properly resist the attacks against them

9:51 - Company closures and the tactics of resistance

13:10 - The Conservatives learn from their defeats of the 1970s

14:03 - How the Unions intersected with other movements

16:15 - The international face of British trade unions

19:53 - Restrictions imposed on unions and their legacy today

26:36 - An alternative vision of labour laws

29:36 - The power of working class solidarity

Activism in the 80s is a Creative Kin production for Ardent Theatre Company.

Executive Producer & Producer: Jason Caffrey

Production music: Ellie Parker

Mixing and Mastering: Adam Double

This production has been supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Links:

https://www.ardenttheatre.co.uk/strike-about

https://www.creativekin.co.uk/

https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_McCluskey

https://www.ier.org.uk/blog-author/john-hendy-qc/

https://www.ier.org.uk/blog-author/yvette-williams-mbe/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Orgreave

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatcherism#:~:text=Thatcherism%20represents%20a%20systematic%2C%20decisive,regulation%20of%20the%20British%20economy

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-caffrey/

https://www.ardenttheatre.co.uk/andrew-muir

http://www.adamdouble.com/about

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellie-parker-9ba9aa195/

1980s South Africa was a nation in the grip of Apartheid - a regime as brutal as it was absurd. Every person was assigned a racial category: White, Indian, Coloured or Native. One way to determine this was the 'pencil test'.

A pencil is pushed into your hair. If it falls out, you're White. If not, you're heading for a different category.

And because Apartheid law prohibited people from different categories from living the same area, you could be torn from your family, your friends, your community - all on the basis of how easily a pencil falls from your hair.

"On the streets it was very volatile. I saw a lot of people shot for doing nothing, basically being provoked by the security forces."

Journalist Thapelo Moloantoa and Historian Dr Wayne Dooling both grew up in Apartheid South Africa.

They experienced first hand the violence and humiliations meted out by the Apartheid government.

And witnessed the resistance and ultimate triumph that saw iconic leader Nelson Mandela released after decades as a political prisoner, and the end of the Apartheid regime.

"It doesn't take a genius to work out that the best beaches were not available to black people. One had one's experiences of being forcibly removed from beaches and picnic places."

Artist and activist Zita Holbourne hosts this conversation, offering a riveting window life under Apartheid when the pencil didn't fall out.

Introduced by Ardent Theatre Company Creative Director Andrew Muir.

In this Episode:

1:28 - Education disrupted by the Group Areas Act

4:18 - Attending a historically white university as a non-white student

7:42 - The State of Emergency and violence in the Townships

11:00 - Resisting the Apartheid regime

15:39 - Interactions with people assigned different racial categories

18:01 - Opportunities to enjoy sports and leisure

23:58 - Approaching the '90s and the end of Apartheid

Activism in the 80s is a Creative Kin production for Ardent Theatre Company.

Executive Producer & Producer: Jason Caffrey

Production music: Ellie Parker

Mixing and Mastering: Adam Double

This production has been supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players.

Links:

https://www.ardenttheatre.co.uk/

https://www.creativekin.co.uk/

https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/

https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/wayne-dooling

http://www.zitaholbourne.com/

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/author/thapelo/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-caffrey/

https://www.ardenttheatre.co.uk/andrew-muir

http://www.adamdouble.com/about

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellie-parker-9ba9aa195/

Summer 1984. Dublin. A women approaches the checkout at Dunnes, holding two grapefruit. The 21-year old at the till apologises. The fruit is from Apartheid South Africa. She won't ring them up. The Dunnes Store Strike is about to begin.

"We weren't looking for money. We weren't looking for new uniform. It was a discussion to be had... around the sale of this product".

In the mid-1980s, Mary Manning and Vonnie Monroe worked at Dunnes, a well-known Irish department store.

In 1984 they went on strike to defend their right not to sell goods from apartheid South Africa.

What began as a local dispute would become an epic struggle over a fundamental human right equality before the law - regardless of the colour of your skin.

"We had the church talking against us... the priests in Mass used to stand up and say, 'go into Dunnes'".

Their journey would ultimately see them push Ireland to become the first Western nation to ban apartheid imports.

But first, they'd be assaulted by colleagues condemned by the church and even branded terrorists.

"As time has gone on, it was getting more difficult because I couldn't pay my mortgage".

In this episode of Activism in the 80s, Mary Manning and Vonnie Monroe recall how a simple protest saw them strike for almost three years, and play a pivotal role in the international struggle against Apartheid.

Hosted by Ardent Theatre Company Creative Director Andrew Muir.

In this Episode:

1:46 - Living and working in Dublin in the 1980s

4:58 - The Background: Union policy on South Africa, and bullying at Dunnes

5:46 - How it began - refusing to checkout South African grapefruit

10:14 - Picketing Dunnes with placards

11:45 - Vonnie Monroe struggles to pay her mortgage with strike pay

13:41 - South African exile Nimrod Sejake joins the picket

19:42 - Abuse and violence against the strikers

23:25 - Meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu

25:51 - Flying to Apartheid South Africa - and being met by armed soldiers

33:18 - Was the strike worth the sacrifice?

Activism in the 80s is a Creative Kin production for Ardent Theatre Company.

Executive Producer & Producer: Jason Caffrey

Production music: Ellie Parker

Mixing and Mastering: Adam Double

This production has been supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Links:

https://www.ardenttheatre.co.uk/strike-about

https://www.creativekin.co.uk/

https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunnes_Stores_strike

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Striking-Back-Untold-Anti-Apartheid-Striker/dp/1848893248

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod_Sejake

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-caffrey/

https://www.ardenttheatre.co.uk/andrew-muir

http://www.adamdouble.com/about

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellie-parker-9ba9aa195/