- The Permanent Way
"The Permanent Way" is a play by David Hare.
In 1991 the British government decided to privatise the country's railways. David Hare tells the story through the powerful first-hand accounts of those most intimately involved. From passengers to government ministers, their voices bear witness to a story of national mismanagement.
The play was based on numerous interviews, by the actors themselves, of the people involved. With a little linking narrative added, skilful collating and editing allowed the quotations to take the form of powerful drama:
Actor
Lloyd Hutchison of Out of Joint, the original theatrical company, describes Hare's contribution thus: "He puts in very, very little bridging material. The play is really one statement after another. He hasn't exactly written it; he collated it."" [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/politicaltheatre/story/0,,1082019,00.html Whose line is it anyway?] " Ascherson, Neal, "The Observer ",2003-11-09 ]Incidents covered in the play include the passing of the
Railways Act 1993 setting out the structure of rail privatization and the survival and bereavement stories resulting from the rail crashes of Southall, Ladbroke Grove, Hatfield, and Potters Bar.The play first opened in York in November 2003, and then toured the country in 2004, winning the "Best Touring Production" award from the
Theatre Management Association . [cite web|url=http://www.tmauk.org/awards/previousawards.aspx|title=Previous Awards|publisher=Theatre Management Association|accessdate=2008-10-01] It was most recently performed in Liverpool by students from LIPA in May 2007. [http://www.lipa.ac.uk/publicseason/thepermanentway.htm]References
Links
* [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/politicaltheatre/story/0,,1082035,00.html 2003 Interview about the play with David Hare]
* [http://www.outofjoint.co.uk/prods/permanentway.html#story Out of Joint tour promotion of play]ee also
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