Northern Broadsides and York Theatre Royal have joined forces to stage They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay!, Deborah McAndrew’s new adaptation of Dario Fo’s political satire of civil disobedience Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay!, transposed to Brexit Britain.
Directed by Northern Broadsides new Artistic Director and Joint CEO Conrad Nelson, the new adaptation based on Jon Laskin and Michael Aquilante’s translation, will be at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre from Tuesday 20 to Saturday 24 November.
They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay! tells the story of Anthea, who gets mixed up in a riot at her local supermarket and seizes the opportunity to stock her empty cupboards and those of her friend. But what will the two friends tell their law-abiding husbands?
The cast is Steve Huison (Lomper in the Oscar and BAFTA Award-winning The Full Monty, Eddie Windass in Coronation Street, DinnerLadies, and When We Are Married, Northern Broadsides); Lisa Howard (Flood, Slung Low and Hull City of Culture 2017); Matt Connor (The Woman in Black, West End and UK tour and Richard III, Northern Broadsides); Suzanne Ahmet (Hard Times, Northern Broadsides and St George and the Dragon, National Theatre) and Michael Hugo (Around the World in 80 Days, touring and New Vic Theatre and Royal Exchange, and Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Northern Broadsides).
Playwright Deborah McAndrew says: “Dario Fo tackled everything through comedy – no matter how unfunny that might appear to be. In his Italy of the 1970s there are clear parallels with the kind of food poverty we see in 21st-century Britain, with the growth of food banks and holiday hunger projects, etc. It's interesting to note that Fo reworked this play himself in 2010. He updated the references and changed the title from the original Can't Pay? Won't Pay!, but it's pretty much the same play. In fact, the amendments he made to the ending seem to express a feeling of sorrow that in almost 40 years little has changed.
“Like Accidental Death of an Anarchist, which I adapted for Northern Broadsides in 2008, They Don't Pay? We Won't Pay! is a great fit for a company with a bold, narrative style and a direct connection to its audience in performance. It’s fast and funny, but also sharp and relevant, providing countless opportunities to satirise the state of our own politics and the plight of the poorest people in society at a time of sustained austerity policy, Brexit, and ideological infighting on both sides of the Commons.”
Deborah McAndrew’s plays have included the moving First World War drama An August Bank Holiday Lark for Northern Broadsides and the New Vic Theatre which won both the UK Theatre Award and Manchester Theatre Award for Best New Play 2014. Her credits for Northern Broadsides include Hard Times (2018), Cyrano (2017) The Grand Gesture (2013) A Government Inspector (2012) Accidental Death Of An Anarchist (2008) and Vacuum (2006). Other theatre credits include Anna of the Five Towns (2017) and Flamingoland (2008) for New Vic Theatre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (2017) and David Copperfield (2010) for the Octagon Theatre, Bolton. Alongside her husband – director Conrad Nelson – she is co-founder and Creative Director of Claybody Theatre Company. As an actress Deborah is best known for her role as Coronation Street regular Angie Freeman in the 1990s.
Northern Broadsides and York Theatre Royal previously worked together in York on Blake Morrison’s adaptation of Goldoni’s Italian farce The Man with Two Gaffers in 2006 and in 2016 on a revival of JB Priestley’s much-loved classic comedy When We Are Married.
They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay! can be seen in the Round at the SJT at 7.30pm on Tuesday 20, Wednesday 21 and Friday 23 November; at 1.30pm and 7pm on Thursday 22 November; and at 2.30pm and 7.30pm on Saturday 24 November. Tickets are priced from £10, and can be booked at the box office on 01723 370541 or via the website: www.sjt.uk.com
