Writer and actor Neil Gore of Townsend Theatre is on national tour again bringing to Wisbech his new play Behold Ye Ramblers, the story of the founding of the socialist Clarion Movement. Townsend’s acclaimed production of Robert Tressell’s classic novel The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists played here with great success two years ago.
The new show, hosted by Wisbech, March and District Trades Council, will be on Saturday, April 6, 2024, at 3pm in St Peter’s Church hall.
It tells the story of the Clarion Newspaper, founded in 1891 and selling up to 70,000 copies a week, and the Clarion Movement which was created by readers who formed clubs following leisure and educational pursuits including cycling, scouting and rambling.
The voices of campaigners alongside songs and poetry inspired by past and present struggles celebrate the Right To Roam and recall the fight to improve the health and well-being of working people.
Expeditions were organised across open moors bringing the ramblers into conflict with landowners, gamekeepers and the law. This trade union and Independent Labour Party campaign to get access to the countryside for all culminated in the famous 1932 mass trespass on Kinder Scout.
Tickets for the show are just £3/£2 concessions. You can reserve seats by emailing wmdtuc@gmail.com or you can buy a ticket at the door.
Behold Ye Ramblers has had a five-star review from Lynne Walsh of the Morning Star:
“What Townsend Theatre do so beautifully is to bring to life the stories of firebrand pioneers who still speak to us now. Three things stand out in this exhilarating show: the power of song, the zeal to tell stories of our socialist history, and the mastery demanded of the solo artist.”
