Wasteland at Birmingham Rep Review

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Thu 18 May 2023 - Fri 19 May 2023

A sequel to the award-winning Coal, Gary Clarke Company’s Wasteland takes us into the lives of those left despairing by the closure of the pits and the end of an industry. And we see the effects of the decimation of the mining communities not just on those who had made their living underground but also on their children – a generation suddenly without jobs to go to.

Currently, at Birmingham Rep, the piece begins with the focus on one man, The Last Miner, who is attempting to blot out the pain with alcohol. Danced by Parsifal James Hurst, he reels across the stage, stumbling and falling, his hopelessness summed up in every movement. Collapsing into an old armchair, he sinks in front of the television with no other meaning in life.

His son, The Boy, danced by Rob Anderson, attempts to rouse him but the two fight, hurling each other around the stage in an agonizing battle – their physical injuries masking the mental ones. But Clarke ensures we understand that under this frustration there is a strong bond and in a particularly poignant scene we see them switch from fighting to embracing, as they desperately cling to each other.



The focus then moves to The Boy as he discovers an outlet for his pain in the rave movement and, joined by four other dancers, they hit the party scene big-time. It is in this physical exertion that he discovers shared bonds and creates a new unity.

Clarke draws all kinds of parallels within the piece – both on a major political and social level but also on the more intimate family level. So we see how The Boy finds acceptance with the ravers just as his father found community with his fellow miners. And when the police arrive to break up the illegal rave we are reminded of the lines of police officers facing off the miners’ picket lines.

So too at the close of the work, we see the son in danger and, as his father attempts to keep his son alive, they join in a physical tussle that takes us back to their earlier fight – only this time we know this is a battle borne out of love.

In the programme, Clarke says he owes his own drive to dance to the rave movement and there is a clear homage here as the dancers weave across the stage in synchronicity to pulsing rhythms while a screen behind shows psychedelic shapes whirling in their own dance.

There is a sense of fondness for these parties so we feel Clarke’s own memories bubbling through the production. And when The Boy takes on the guise of a maraca-waving dancer in a hat and sunglasses, anyone who remembers the Happy Mondays can’t help but think of the band’s eccentric percussionist and dancer Bez.



Clarke has been keen with both Coal and Wasteland to involve local communities and this work features four Pit Men Singers who are local to each venue playing the roles of redundant miners and brass players from the Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band. Alongside the recorded music, they create an eclectic soundtrack featuring Tchaikovsky, the hymn Deep Harmony, KLF and Chumbawamba’s Coal Not Dole.

The production also makes great use of digital with a screen behind the dancers not only taking us into the rave scene but also sharing images of the miners as their pits close and archive film showing the demolition of the pit heads.

Wasteland is an ambitious work pulsing with energy that asks a lot of its performers both physically and emotionally - and it also reminds us that dance can say so much about people, politics, society and relationships.

At Birmingham Rep until 19 May, see here for more information and tickets.

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