politics

CENTENARY – New show at The Glasshouse, Gateshead

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May 4, 2026, marks the centenary of the first full day of the 1926 General Strike where millions of British workers withdrew their labour and challenged the establishment. They believed a better world was possible.

To mark this historical event the same team that brought successful plays Wor Bella, Carrying David and Hadaway Harry are staging Centenary at the Glasshouse.

“We have a great team and the show will be fantastic. We did a very popular show about four years ago called ‘Boris Out’, and look what happened to him!” said playwright and Theatre producer Ed Waugh

“One hundred years ago millions of workers and their families went on strike. A General Strike poses the question of state power, the 1 per cent – the privileged Establishment or the working class – those who actually create the wealth in society.” 

“Despite the heroism and sacrifice of the trade union rank and file, the union leaders in the TUC realised the question of state power was at stake – the Russian Revolution nine years earlier had sent shockwaves throughout the world. These TUC cowards sold out the strike unconditionally after only nine days.”

Ed added “Their pusillanimity led to a carnival of reaction against the trade unions and workers by the Tory government. The miners continued their strike for another six months but were starved back to work. We haven’t had a general strike in this country since. But we’ve been close”. 

“We have to learn the lessons of 1926 for the next time, which is on the horizon. The 1926 General Strike was a hugely important period in working class history.”

‘Centenary’ will include songs, comedy, stand up and recitations to celebrate the nine day strike. A big addition are musicians Paul Weller (The Jam) Alan Hull (Lindisfarne), Tom Robinson and Paul Simmonds (The Men They Couldn’t Hang) have personally given permission for their music to be played at the show.

“We are delighted to have been given personal permission from these great songwriters. It will be an evening of brilliant musical and comedic entertainment and inspiration.” added Ed.

Tickets are available for ‘Centenary’ at The Glasshouse, Gateshead at 4pm or 8pm on Monday May 4th 2026.

Home | The Glasshouse International Centre for Music

www.wisecrackproductions.co.uk

Alikivi   January 2026

DRAWING NEWCASTLE’S LIT & PHIL – with Blyth born cartoonist David Haldane

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David Haldane appearing at the Lit & Phil, Newcastle on 23 April 2025.

David Haldane’s work has appeared in a number of national newspapers including Punch, The Express, Mirror, Guardian, Telegraph, Daily Mail and The Times. On Wednesday 23rd April he is booked at Newcastle’s Lit &Phil where he will be sharing stories from his life.

Now living in Morpeth he said “It’s been an incredible 50 or so years learning about drawing cartoons and then creating them for the leading newspapers and magazines in the country.”

Born in 1954, David started his career in the 70s working for the Shields Gazette “I was working for the art department at the Gazette. I received my first pay packet there, every Friday, in cash. It was so busy with three editions of the paper every day. It was like Fleet Street!”

During the 1980s David contributed sketches to the original series of Spitting Image. Now retired from The Times, his latest cartoons regularly appear in the satirical magazine Private Eye.

Playwright Ed Waugh is hosting the evening at the Lit & Phil “I’ve known David for over 20 years and he’s both very sharp and very funny. You have to be to create top-class satirical cartoons every day, often at very short notice, for national newspaper front pages”.

He continued “David’s career stories are both deep and hilarious. It will be a fantastic evening for people who want a laugh and those who want to find out about some of the stories behind the many thousands of tremendous cartoons David has created and had published.” 

Tickets for the Lit & Phil are only £5 and can be bought on line 

https://www.litandphil.org.uk/event/david-haldane-in-conversation-with-ed-waugh/ 

or via (0191) 232 0192.

The Blyth Library event is on Monday, May 12, and tickets are available from 

Blyth Library – David Haldane In Conversation with Ed Waugh Tickets, Mon, May 12, 2025 at 6:00 PM | Eventbrite

David will also be staging his ‘Evening With’ at The Word, South Shields on September 24 and at Gosforth Civic Theatre on September 30.

Alikivi  April  2025