Serving the Labour Movement

In 1939, Merseyside Left Theatre firmly set out its aims in a club prospectus, with a prominent focus on establishing themselves as the local Workers’ Theatre to present plays which reflected the lives of ordinary men and women. Over the next four decades they became a vital pillar in the work of the Liverpool Labour movement, contributing significantly to education on working class history and driving social change through bringing topical theatre directly to the people.

The theatre’s early commitment to the labour cause was established during the war years. Its first collaboration was with the Liverpool Cooperative Society in staging its Cooperative Centenary Pageant at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1944. While not a Merseyside Unity Theatre production, many members performed in the pageant choir, for which they received a generous donation to further harness their capabilities in meeting the demands for left theatre in Liverpool.

In the wake of the Second World War, the theatre pivoted toward the urgent task of social reconstruction. The club’s first full-length production was They Came to a City by J. B. Priestly, a play set in a socialist utopia, which they performed at Kirkby Hostels in May 1945. Next came Man with a Plan in 1946, an entertaining and valuable piece of original writing by Merseyside Unity in favour of social planning following Labour’s general election victory under Clement Attlee. Set in Merseyside, the documentary spanned the period from the Depression to peacetime. It drew directly on the professional struggles of the club’s own members, with Mr. Planner appearing from the audience to provide a solution to workers’ problems. For example, in one exchange with an Irish docker, Mr. Planner explains the government’s efforts to end casual labour through the 1946 Dock Workers Regulation of Employment Act. The play ends with the question “Which is it to be Merseyside – Backward or Forward?” directing a clear message at the audience to support the social reforms of the new government.

Merseyside Unity functioned as more than just a theatre club; it existed as a service to the people and specifically the labour movement through the establishment of an affiliation scheme. Its secretary was extremely proactive in contacting local trade unions, councils, political parties and cooperative guilds, offering the theatre’s services at reduced rates for block bookings. It actively encouraged branches to request performances of topical plays at their public meetings, strikes, or social events, and held film screenings including Power in the Land for the local Electrical Trades Union and Czech film New Warriors Will Arise for Lancashire mining lodges. One of these topical plays was The Scab written by early club member and local writer Frank Shaw. Set during the General Strike of 1926, the one-act comedy focused on the impact of the strike on a Liverpool docker’s family and was the first time Shaw’s writing was produced on stage.

One of the theatre’s most significant achievements over five decades of performances was its presentation of original documentary One Hundred Years Hard in 1948 for the centenary of the Liverpool Trades Council. A chronicle about a century of working class struggles on Merseyside, the theatre spent extensive time researching, writing, and rehearsing the 28-scene play to mark the occasion and celebrate the Liverpool pioneers of socialism. Some of the most noteworthy scenes included a court scene following the National Unemployed Workers Committee protest at the Walker Art Gallery in 1921 in which George Garrett played the role of himself. This was followed by a scene about the 1922 Hunger March from Liverpool to London, where demands were made for “Work or Maintenance” due to the mass unemployment of ex-servicemen after the First World War. The documentary was an enormous success, and in a letter to the theatre Bessie Braddock MP highlighted the political influence that could be wielded from using the stage as an avenue for propaganda. She wrote:

We in Liverpool have been fortunate in having the services of Unity Theatre at our disposal. The portrayal of the growth of the Labour and Trades Union movement in One Hundred Years Hard was an effort which reached the highest standard. Every courage should be given to this enthusiastic group of pioneers who are making history in the sphere of the stage.

By the early 1950s, the theatre had become the ‘go-to’ creative partner for large scale trade union commemorations. In 1951, it was commissioned for the centenary celebrations of the Liverpool Committee of the Amalgamated Engineering Union, performing an original documentary The Engineers written by Edgar Criddle which featured important events in the union’s history, including the Quittance Paper strikes of 1845. Another significant production for the Merseyside Area of the National Federation of Building Trade Operatives was of course The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell, which featured in its cast Stan Thorne who later became a Labour MP in 1974. The renowned scene The Great Money Trick depicting the capitalist exploitation of workers was kept in the club’s repertory for years to come, including at the invitation of former club Chairman Eric Heffer MP following a commemoration to the author at Walton Cemetery in 1977.

Later performances in the 1970s were Make That Future Now, a chronicle on labour history for the 125th anniversary of the Liverpool Trades Council in 1973, and May Day Miscellany in 1978 about the origins and traditions of International Workers’ Day. The longevity and success of Merseyside Unity in serving the labour movement were made clear in a statement by Eric Heffer in Left Theatre, writing that the club’s activities were just as important as major rallies, strikes and protests to Liverpool’s labour history.