The Pitmen Painters at Duchess Theatre

'The Pitmen Painters, in Max Roberts' perfectly pitched and acted production, manages to be tragic, funny and illuminating in one fell swoop of energy' Evening Standard.

'Breathtaking in its scope, Lee Hall's remarkable play provides a fascinating debate about art and socialism' The Guardian.

'Lee Hall's new play and Max Roberts' sublime production are ablaze with intellectual vigour, political passion and incendiary emotional energy. A beautiful work of art that everybody should see' The Times.

In 1934, a group of Ashington miners hired a professor to teach an art appreciation evening class. Rapidly abandoning theory in favour of practice, the pitmen began to paint. Within a few years the most avant-garde artists became their friends and their work was acquired by prestigious collections; but every day they  worked, as before, down the mine.