"Can't Stand For Falling Down" by Richard Cameron

Hi Folks.  So, as of today, I can officially announce that I'm directing York Theatre Royal's main Studio show for the Autumn/Winter Season, Can't Stand Up For Falling Down by Richard Cameron.  I'm very excited, very proud, and humbled to be asked to continue the tradition of high quality theatre at the venue, unearthing another jewel in our Yorkshire Season.

Here's a bit of background on the text:  Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down is a one act play made up of three interconnected monologues.  It's about three young women who, unbeknownst to each other, are linked by one man, a past event and the circumstances which lead to their paths crossing.  In keeping with York Theatre Royal's Yorkshire themed season of work, it’s written by Richard Cameron, a playwright from Doncaster.  His themes are: Northern post-industrial society, working class life, tough women and violent men.  He has said of the play and his work:

“[My] plays are all set in South Yorkshire because that’s where I’m from and I like to write about what I know.  Place is almost the first thing I think about when I start to work on our play.  In Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down it’s a two or three mile stretch of the River Don…  I like to work through characters who keep their gobs shut.”

The play has grit.  It’s from the same literary vein as a David Storey and a Barry Hines: isolated characters trying to escape or connect.   At the same time, Richard Cameron has a knack of appreciating the innate poetry of the Yorkshire language, and this allows him to write very lucidly.

I want to examine its definitions of strength and also “the tease of freedom”.   The river (particularly the lock gates) and, to a lesser extent, the quarries interest me: the river seems at once flowing and free; on the other hand it has been constricted and forced on a particular course.  The quarries have been gradually eroded, yet nothing has been put back.  There is a symbolism here, particularly as RC holds place as paramount in his work, which makes delicious food for thought.

JRW, July 2013 #csuffd

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