Story perspectives

Leeds' Grimley Colliery Roars with Steel Staircase, Brass Finale

6/28/2026

Summary

Amy Leach Directs Grimley

Amy Leach directed Paul Allen’s Grimley Colliery play at Leeds Playhouse’s Quarry theatre.
Katie Scott built a steel staircase that incorporated choreography showing miners hewing coal and raising an Iwo Jima-style flag.
The show features speeches by Margaret Thatcher, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak and bands from Horbury Victoria and Wakefield Metropolitan.
David Birrell (Danny), Danielle Henry (Sandra) and Andy Cryer (Jim) perform a brass-accompanied ending that moves the audience.

Summary

Amy Leach Unites

The play links 1990s pit closures to today’s industry shutdowns, stressing community fracture.
Amy Leach inserts a hooded youth with a St George’s flag to question NEET solidarity.
Critics cite Phil’s debt and loan-shark struggles as proof of lingering union betrayals.
The set design shows a town’s lifeblood loss forcing residents to seek work elsewhere.
The finale’s rousing music serves as a rallying cry for renewed communal unity.

Summary

Leeds Playhouse Draws

The production runs at Leeds Playhouse through 11 July 2026, drawing families.
Reviewer Hazel Davis and her 13-year-old daughter, both brass-band players, arrived early and saw the Whit Friday pubs onstage.
The pre-show band played 1990s Britpop hits by Blur, Oasis, Supergrass and Pulp.
Set designer Katie Scott installed ceiling-hung pub signs that flip to mark pit-to-kitchen changes.
Lighting designer used miner’s helmet lamps and industrial fixtures to create a hillscape backdrop.

Summary

Amy Leach Sets

A redundancy payment of £23,000 won a 4-to-1 ballot as the pit closure decision unfolds in the play.
Frazer Hadfield (Andy) and Maddie Hansen (Gloria) also performed with the brass bands.
The Young Company supplied alternating child actors who confidently played Phil’s children.
Amy Leach’s crew moved set pieces for the next performance after an encore by Horbury Victoria and Wakefield Metropolitan brass bands closed the show.

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Amy Leach Directs Grimley

Amy Leach directed Paul Allen’s Grimley Colliery play at Leeds Playhouse’s Quarry theatre.
Katie Scott built a steel staircase that incorporated choreography showing miners hewing coal and raising an Iwo Jima-style flag.
The show features speeches by Margaret Thatcher, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak and bands from Horbury Victoria and Wakefield Metropolitan.
David Birrell (Danny), Danielle Henry (Sandra) and Andy Cryer (Jim) perform a brass-accompanied ending that moves the audience.

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