A play looking at The Clash, punk and ’selling out’ is coming to Suffolk.
Meeting Joe Strummer, at Ipswich’s New Wolsey Theatre, looks at two fans’ relationship with the band they adore.
As they grow older they try and stay true to their youthful ideals in the face of getting jobs and holding down relationships.
“The value The Clash gave to me was about trusting your own instincts and doing it yourself,” said playwright Paul Hodson.
The Future Is Unwritten production is touring the UK and should find some takers, maybe from some who attended The Clash’s gigs in Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich - more of which later.
The play centres on characters Nick and Steve and their friendship over 25 years - after meeting at the legendary Rock Against Racism gig in London’s Victoria Park in 1978.
Nick went to a public school and rejects his middle class career path - as did Joe Strummer who was a diplomat’s son. Steve is from a more working class background and is also searching for his place in the grand scheme of things.
[read full feature by Andrew Woodger]
A passionate punk comedy about attitude, friendship and celebrity and a celebration of the man who set the agenda for a generation.
Nick and Steve’s lives were transformed by Joe Strummer and The Clash’s potent mix of politics, soulful rock’n’roll and iconic imagery.
1978. The lads see The Clash for the first time, headlining the Anti-Nazi League carnival in Victoria Park. It’s as if they take an oath to stay true to the values embodied in that day…
2002. Strummer’s tragic and unexpected early death forces Nick and Steve to re-evaluate their lives.
Winner of a Fringe First award, this heartfelt, comic play charts Nick and Steve’s attempts to maintain their ‘oath’ to Strummer while living through Thatcherism, paying the bills and maintaining relationships - how the lads grew up in the real world in the shadow of their hero.
‘theatre’s High Fidelity’ Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
‘Paul Hodson’s marvellous play… it’s required viewing, not just for Strummer’s many admirers, but also for anyone who enjoys funny, perceptive and passionately sincere new writing’ Manchester Evening News
Full info and tour dates visit: www.the-future-is-unwritten.co.uk