Saturday, October 9, 2010

Theater Review: The Pitmen Painters

Painting a Colorful Portrait of the Face of Art
By Lauren Yarger
British miners discover a new way to express themselves while at the same time painting a new definition of art on a previously blank canvas: one for the working class, in Lee’s Hall’s play The Pitmen Painters, presented on Broadway by Manhattan Theatre Club.

Hall, who brought us the stage version of Billy Elliot, brings to life another tale of miners striving to express themselves through the arts, this time, in telling the story of the Pitmen Painters, a real-life group of miner/artists known as the Ashington Group, for the area of Newcastle, England where they worked in the mid 1930s to mid 1940s. The story is based on the book by William Feaver.

Brought together to study art appreciation at a class taught by Robert Lyon (Ian Kelly), the men (the strong ensemble of Christopher Connel, Michael Hodgson, Brian Lonsdale, Deka Walmsley and David Whitaker) discover they have some talent and opinions about art and what it all means.

The play, with its tight dialogue (though sometimes hard to understand through the thick accents) and humor blends colorful discussions not only about art, but about society. Should art belong to the upper classes? Can the working classes produce and understand it without the patronage of the privileged?

The painters are part of a socialist movement that eventually nationalizes the mining industry and they struggle through just who owns the work -- the individuals who created it or the collective miners who sponsored the art class that started it all? Conflict between the classes also comes to a head when wealthy heiress and art collector Helen Sutherland (Philippa Wilson) offers to support the most talented painter of the group, Oliver Kilbourn (Connel) so he can leave the mines and paint full time – and maybe even explore the possibility of a relationship with her. Oliver finds out that members of the upper class aren’t the only ones who can be prejudiced.

Hall uses masterful strokes to tell the story. The dialogue is lyrical and the characters intensely likable, despite a tendency to make them more intellectual and even cleaner looking than you would expect working class miners to be (but then maybe that’s just prejudice talking…)

Director Max Roberts deftly positions the men and art (scenic and costume design by Gary McCann) to create a classy, interesting presentation. He also stages a nude scene, where a model, Susan Parks (Lisa McGrillis) drops her clothes for the painters, in such a way that if you blink, you might miss it.

Pitmen runs through Dec. 12 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th St., NYC. Discounted tickets for friends of Masterwork productions, Inc. are available at http://www.givenik.com/show_info.php/Masterworks/275/individual.

Christians might also like to know:
• Lord’s name taken in vain
• Language
• Nudity
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Gracewell Prodiuctions

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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