Pete Ashmore plays Samuel Bamford and Sam in Manchester Sound: The Massacre. Here he gives you a handful of great reasons to grab a ticket for the show…
1) There are many reasons why I think everyone should get themselves down to see the forthcoming production, Manchester Sound: The Massacre, but in an attempt to narrow them down to an easily digestible 5, my first pick has to be the content and topic of the production. The play interweaves two vital moments in British history. Although they are separated by 170 years they are connected by the birth place of their action: Manchester, and the profound and lasting effect they had on our social and political environment.
The first is the now sadly little remembered or commemorated Peterloo Massacre, where on the 16 August 1819 around 60,000-80,000 men, woman and children, marched from many of Manchester’s outlying towns and villages to St Peter’s Field in the largest demonstration for universal suffrage seen on British soil. At a time when less than 2% of the British population had the vote and so were effectively cut off from any ability to express themselves as a cohesive society or call for justice where it was due, this entirely peaceful and organised rally was conducted with the spirit of a happy day out, many bringing the whole family and a picnic. The local magistrates, faced with such a large bold group panicked. They ordered the Hussars and local Yeomanry to arrest the speakers, whereupon the cavalry charged the crowd, many packed tightly together and with sharpened sabres slaughtered indiscriminately. The second event is the creative and musical explosion that took place in Manchester in the 1980s. Centred around a new and diverse musical culture with the likes of the Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses, the emergence of the club scene and rave music, legendary venues such as the Hacienda, along with DJs like Dave Haslam created a utopian sub culture amongst the disenfranchised youth of Thatcher’s Britain.
2) I’m cheating really because this next reason is essentially an extension of my first but I think it deserves it’s own special emphasis. In looking at these two moments in our shared history, the impact they had on us and the reasons behind them, their similarities and differences, inevitably we find ourselves asking where are we today? What is the society in which we live? What is it really like? What does it give us, what does it withhold and what do we do when we feel afraid or alone and broken? These are not just important questions you might ask a student for an A Level paper and then never refer to again but vital, vibrant, relevant topics that effect us all and for which theatre is the perfect medium for analysis. They are painfully poignant in today’s society and our play hopes to set up an environment where we can usefully consider them.
3) We have great music! As well as fantastic mixes of seminal 80s music we have beautiful folk arrangements put together by our very own incredibly talent Musical Director Simeon Truby.
4) We’ve all been sworn to secrecy regarding the venue but let me tell you it is a.maz.ing! (I’ve seen young people write it like that in texts and I’m trying to reach different audiences here!) The venue itself is worth the price of a ticket and did I mention there’s a bar open throughout? That’s right, the whole time! So you’re quids in already hey, what’s not to love?
5) Headed up by our indomitable director Paul Jepson, our fantastic writer Polly Wiseman and the brilliant Amanda Stoodley designing, the Library Theatre has put together a fantastic creative team. The cast themselves are as talented and handsome a bunch as you could ever wish to meet on a dark night at the theatre and the whole group have created something unique and quite beautiful. I sincerely hope you’ll come along and join us for an evening.
Manchester Sound: The Massacre runs until Sat 6 Jul 2013. You can book tickets online or from Cornerhouse Box Office on 0161 200 1500.