David Hare’s award-winning 2003 verbatim drama The Permanent Way, now receiving its first major revival at The Vaults, covers four major disasters that followed railway privatisation. Do you remember Southall, Ladbroke Grove, Hatfield and Potters Bar? You should. Time to get booking!
David Hare’s award-winning play roars to life in a provocative new site-specific staging performed in The Vaults, London’s alternative subterranean venue beneath Waterloo Station, until 17 November 2019. It’s the play’s first major revival since its premiere, care of Out of Joint, in York and then at the National Theatre in 2003/4.
Revelatory, witty, and moving, The Permanent Way is an astonishing interrogation of the chaos arising from the botched privatisation of Britain’s railways. Told through the first-hand accounts of those involved at every level, from passengers to Civil Service mandarins, this extraordinary verbatim piece asks challenging questions of responsibility and governmental mismanagement. Have we learned anything from recent history?
The nine-strong ensemble cast, directed by Alexander Lass, comprises Anna Acton, Jonathan Coote, Paul Dodds, Jacqui Dubois, Lucas Hare, Gabrielle Lloyd, Tej Obano, Sakuntala Ramanee and Jonathan Tafler. The production is presented by Debbie Hicks.
The Permanent Way runs until 17 November 2019 at The Vaults, Launcelot Street off Lower Marsh, London SE1 7NN with performances Tuesdays to Saturdays at 7.30pm, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2.30pm. Tickets priced from £20. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!
Four rail disasters
An InterCity 125 passenger train on the Great Western Main Line at Southall, west London, failed to slow down in response to warning signals and collided with a freight train crossing its path. Seven people died and 139 were injured.
Ladbroke Grove:
5 Oct 1999
Also known as the Paddington crash, this was the second major accident on the Great Western Main Line in west London. An out-bound train, that should have been held at a red signal, collided nearly head-on with an in-bound train. 31 people died, 417 injured.
A Great North Eastern Railway InterCity 225 train from London’s King’s Cross to Leeds was derailed when a metal-fatigued left-hand rail fractured as the train passed over it at Hatfield in Hertfordshire. Four people died, 70 were injured.
A West Anglia Great Northern train, from King’s Cross bound for King’s Lynn, was derailed when crossing a set of point. One of the points blades moved suddenly, causing the fourth carriage to detach and flip. Seven people died, including one passerby.
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