What
the Press said about the Salisbury Playhouse production….
| Introduction
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Most people have heard of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, but few perhaps can say with any degree of certainty who they were or exactly why they have achieved everlasting fame. Graham Padden’s new play fills in the possible gaps in our knowledge. It is a superbly researched piece of work, which interweaves narrative, drama and music to bring history to life with formidable clarity. The Stage 1987 |
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The
Wrong End of the World
opens with the grievances of the agricultural labourers of Dorset in the
early 1830s, and traces their formation of a Friendly Society under the
leadership of George Loveless, their subsequent prosecution, and eventual
deportation to Australia. Granted
a free pardon as the result of pressure brought to bear in Parliament, the
Tolpuddle leaders return to England as early heroes of the Trade Union
movement. Against the background of the rise of Chartism, however, they encounter renewed hostility, and Padden’s play ends with them preparing to leave England for a new life in Canada. Salisbury Journal 1987 |