Dark chapter in Seaham’s history brought to the stage

 *Performances in support of The Road to Parity*

A play recounting the 1880 Seaham Colliery disaster will return to the stage next week, eleven years after it first touched hearts and minds in the north east and far beyond.

The Bitter Taste of Coal tells the harrowing story of Wednesday 8 September 1880 when 164 men and boys died following an underground explosion at Seaham Colliery.

The play is written by former miner and mine rescue officer, Steve English, with music by Mick Smith. It will be performed by Vane Tempest Theatre Group, which carries the name of the last colliery to close in Seaham in 1993. 

Performances will run from Tuesday 18 November to Friday 21 November at Seaham Town Hall. When the show was first put on in 2014, it was a sellout.

Steve English says: “It was suggested some time ago that the play should be put on again. They were so many people asking to see it who couldn’t get tickets to see it the first-time round because it was sold out every night, and it’s just taken eleven years to get around to it.”
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He adds: “There were a lot of people who had family members who were affected, directly or indirectly by the disaster, some forbearers who were actually killed in the explosion, and people came from far and wide to see the play. It was recorded and DVDs of the play were sent all over the world, as far as New Zealand and Canada.”      

Steve English, who wrote The Bitter Taste of Coal

Ben Wardropper, the theatre group’s Musical Director, plays Michael Smith, one of the miners trapped in the explosion. Laura Geary plays his wife, Margaret. Both took on the same roles in the 2014 production.
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There are some minor tweaks in the 2025 version, but Steve notes the biggest challenge in writing the script was capturing the emotion of the moment. “Both underground for the miners who were trapped and of the families, and others, who were above ground.” 

He recalls: “The first-time round, every rehearsal night, there were tears in everyone’s eyes and some were actually breaking out and crying with the emotion of it and it’s happening again now while we’re rehearsing this current version. I wrote it in such a way to convey the emotion, but you can only get that across when the actors actually perform and it comes across.”

But Steve stressed: “It should be emotional, it’s inevitable from history. It’s not Disney. We can’t change the ending. Those 164 men and boys did actually die. It was a dark chapter in Seaham’s history.”

Records show that, while trapped, Michael Smith left a note on a water bottle, which was found by rescuers. It read: “Dear Macerate, (unclear writing thought to mean Margaret, his wife) there are 40 of us altogether at 7am. Some are singing hymns, but my thoughts were on little Michael that he and I would meet in Heaven at the same time. Oh, dear wife God save you and the children and pray for me. Dear wife, farewell, my thoughts are about you and the children to pray for me. Oh what an awful position we are in.” 

The Bitter Taste of Coal, 2014

Steve hopes the play will remind the audience of the dangers of coalmining and its deeply entrenched place in Seaham’s history.

“It’s a reminder of how hard and dangerous a job coalmining was and a reminder of what miners down the centuries went through,” he says. “How they and their families suffered because it wasn’t just miners killed, it was the families left behind as well, who suffered for generations. Also, a reminder that Seaham has such a rich history. The town owes its very existence to coal and coalmining.”

When it was first written, Steve carried out extensive research to ensure historical accuracy. From a blank piece of paper to going on stage took three years.

“I’m very proud. I’m pleased it was enjoyed by so many people and I was able to share the story with so many people. It was one hell of a job, starting from a blank piece of paper to develop the characters, and storylines,” Steve recounts, while crediting Mick Smith with the original idea for the play.

Steve points out: “A lot of the libretto was my imagination. No one knows what conversations took place, but you have to use the historical records of messages that were left on a tin bottle or a piece of timber. You use those and weave those into the storyline and think ‘well, how would I have felt in that position?’”

The explosion, thought to have been caused by the firing of a shot (the use of explosives to break up coal), was heard as far away as the outskirts of Sunderland. Thirteen lives were reportedly lost from one street alone - Seaham Street. 

Seaham Colliery Disaster Memorial, Christ Church, Seaham

The tragedy received national news coverage and an estimated 40,000 people gathered on the Sunday following the explosion to witness the first mass funerals.  Today, a memorial to the 1880 disaster stands in the grounds of Christ Church, Seaham.

The Seaham-based Vane Tempest Theatre Group has nominated The Road to Parity as its charity to support in 2025. Charity founder, Jonathan Hill, who is based in Durham, says: “To be supported by the theatre group this year is a wonderful gesture, but for that support to include a performance with such local and historical significance is extra special. We are so grateful to everyone involved, and I really look forward to seeing the show.”    

On a lighter note, Steve remembers being “volunteered” to write the play about 14 years ago after returning from a trip to see The Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

“When I got back there was a notepad and pens, newspaper cuttings and references and what have you. And I said to my wife, Grace, ‘What’s all this?’ She said: ‘Oh, you’ve got a play to write. Mick’s been on and asked if there’s someone who can write a play and we said, yeah, you!’ That was my dear sister and my darling wife!”

​For further details about The Bitter Taste of Coal click on the flyer.