‘The Pitmen Painters’ digs into art

New British drama studies coalminers turned artists in their spare time

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

BROADWAY REVIEW

Already represented on Broadway with his gritty book for the musical "Billy Elliot," writer Lee Hall digs up yet another story from the British coal fields with his new play, "The Pitmen Painters," which opened Thursday at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

Inspired by a true story, "The Pitmen Painters" regards a crew of Northumberland miners in the grim mid-1930s who somehow began taking weekly art lessons. Several among these still-working men prove to be gifted and the Ashington Group's paintings are eventually shown to acclaim in major exhibits.

Spanning a dozen years through 1947, the play observes a crusty-to-adorable range of six men as they personally change (or not) with their developing artistry (or not) as the Depression gives way to wartime and at last the new nationalist state.

The most promising painter, Kilbourn (Christopher Connel), is tempted to quit the mines for a life as an artist by a well-meaning heiress (Phillippa Wilson). Lyon (Ian Kelly), the idealistic college instructor who organizes the men, begins to worry he is exploiting them. The ending suddenly stings with irony.

Fairly absorbing in content, Hall's patchy drama about plain blokes transformed by art is somewhat by-the-numbers in its episodic construction, complete with a comedy scene involving a nude model (Lisa McGrillis). If the story at times is predictable and the conclusion doesn't resonate, Hall's realistic, frequently humorous writing is agreeable although some passages about art and allegory get a bit thick.

Fortunately, the dialogue is given pleasing warmth and life by a well-integrated troupe of eight British actors who performed "The Pitmen Painters" to considerable acclaim at the National Theatre in London. The knobby-browed Connel's wistful portrayal of a budding genius in the rough is especially heartfelt, but all of the acting is deeply grained with authenticity.

Director Max Roberts moves the play along smoothly upon designer Gary McCann's dark, flexible setting that accommodates several locations but usually is a shabby assembly hall where the men comment upon each others' work. The use of projection screens to provide blow-ups of the paintings probably is necessary to the production but occasionally seems obtrusive amid the well-worn realism of the room.

Manhattan Theatre Club subscribers are likely to approve of this relatively quiet but often interesting play and its handsome production, which originated at the Live Theatre in Newcastle near where the real-life Ashington Group painters once worked.

"The Pitmen Painters" continues through Dec. 12 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th St., New York. Call (212) 239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com.