Mark Thomas is a prolific storyteller, a passionate advocate of so many issues and a very funny man. He takes audiences through the intricacies of political movements in a raucous cabaret of ideas and emotions. His new show was one of highlights of this summer’s Edinburgh Festival, and now it’s coming to the Tron Theatre.
The Red Shed is the third part of our favourite campaigning comic’s theatrical trilogy, which began with the multi award winning, critically acclaimed Bravo Figaro and Cuckooed, and concludes in a nationwide tour this autumn as Mark returns to the place where it all began – the Red Shed, a labour club in Wakefield – to celebrate the club’s 50th birthday.
The Shed, home to Mark’s first public performances, is also a home to dissent, to organising and to progressive politics, and so it was here that Mark’s political shows began.
The Red Shed is a tale of strikes, fights, dinner ladies, beer, pickets, placards, commies, friendship, history, dreams and the act of remembering.
Mark Thomas phoned Glasgowist this week to talk about his latest labour of love.
This show seems like a bit of a personal journey for you in the sense that it speaks to where you came from as a performer.
It is a personal show, but I think they all are really. But you are absolutely right that this show is about where I came from politically. As a performer, where my politics was actually derived from, where it defined itself. It was a point during the miners strike. A pivotal point in UK history. It’s the point where privatisation and Thatcher gained dominance. It’s not just the mining communities that live with the consequence of that, it’s all of us. It’s about privatisation and the way that Thatcher set the agenda for 30 odd years.
So, it is personal, but the show is about those big movements and what’s happened to those communities in those times, and what’s happened to the idea of The Left in that time.
People remember a lot of the images of that time but might not be aware of the impact and the intricacies of that particular moment.
They might not. If people want a history of that time, this might not be the show to come and see it. The show is about stories and how we work with the past and national narratives. It’s about living in a so-called “post-factual era”. The grand narratives in history are important and The Left have been spectacular in allowing those narratives to be undermined, taken away and forgotten.
So, The Red Shed in Wakefield, you started going there as a student. Did you visit because of an interest in politics or was that just where people went for a pint on a Saturday night?
Yes, The Red Shed is a wonderfully unique place. It’s literally a shed. A 47 foot long shed. It’s a really quirky and unusual place. People went there for different reason. I went because I was a student and a mate of mine was involved and brought me down for a political meeting. It became the epicentre of politics for me and for other people in the area.
My mate Pete went there for the first time because his sister Cath said if you phoned up at 10.30pm [when the pubs shut] they would pore you a pint and keep it waiting for you. So at that time he just went there because you could get after hours drinking. They’d phone up at 10.30pm and get the bus over from Leeds.
My mate Mick went there because he was involved with anti-racism and wanted to get involved with people fighting for that cause. He then ended up getting involved in CND, who used the club a lot. Different people had different reasons.
It works on the basis that first and foremost its a social club. It’s about being a social asset to the community. It’s amazing that a red shed has survived for 50 years when you think about it – it’s a temporary structure and it’s still there.
Your last show was about access to space and the way we use communal places in cities. I think there’s a bit of a common thread there in terms of the importance of places like The Red Shed, a focal point for the community. There’s not many of these places left.
In a way, you are right. These are precious resources. They are important as they are community run, community owned and part of the community. I was up in Liverpool and they have The Casa, a club that was built by the dockers. It was the home for progressive causes and progressive campaigns. That’s Liverpool’s equivalent of The Red Shed and they are brilliant places.
These places are becoming rarer but the need for them is becoming ever more important. Actually, I think there is a bit of a resurgence, which I think is interesting. Certainly with the way politics has moved in the past five six years, there has been a resurgence in The Left.
There certainly seems to be an upswing in activism and in some cases it is something that political parties are struggling to cope with, where the impetus is coming from the grassroots.
Well, that’s The Left as far as I am concerned. I’m not necessarily interested in any political party, it’s the movement I am interested in. Political parties have their uses and when working properly can provide some leadership on these things, but generally speaking change always happens from the bottom, that’s where it starts. That’s the bit I’m interest in.
Did you perform in The Red Shed as well?
That’s where I did my first gig. The first shows I did in public, we used to write them and they were always about raising money for campaigns. The first shows were actually about trying to stop the nursery closures in Wakefield. It was really exciting because local councillors got behind the campaign.
We used to write shows to celebrate the Cuban revolution. Then, there was a lot of local stuff about local ideas.
Do think you were always destined to be a performer or do you think the fact you got up in The Red Shed made a difference?
You have to remember I was a drama student! I was at Bretton Hall College Yorkshire, merrily running around in leotards and leg-warmers. Then in the evenings we would be doing things at the shed or on picket lines. The shed became an integral part of the thinking of it, the practice of it, the fun of it. I think both college and the shed were important. I think the shed shaped a lot of what happened. It’s difficult to say what would have happened, with or without it.
The Big Red Shed is at The Tron Theatre 6-8 October. For more information on the show visit Mark’s website.