1949: Paul Robeson visits Liverpool and sings to 10,000 crowd in Lord Street

On 7th May 1949, the singer, film actor and communist Paul Robeson drew a crowd of around ten thousand to an impromptu outdoor concert in Lord Street. The event had been proposed on the morning, and took place in the afternoon.

Click here for the full article from Nerve magazine.

Quiggins Owner Backs BNP!

In a move that will stun many in Merseyside's 'alternative' sub-culture, Quiggins co-owner Pete Tierney has publicly declared his support for the far right British National Party, giving his longstanding slogan of 'save our culture' a sinister new connotation.

Posting on his YouTube channel three days before council elections in which the BNP were standing several candidates locally, Tierney told viewers that he had "fought hard" to maintain the "cultural identity" of Liverpool, but had become "disillusioned" with the "LibLabCon" of mainstream politics. "The tsunami's coming", he declared, "and it's called BNP".

Many of Tierney's former backers will not doubt react with disgust and disbelief when they discover who his new pals are. But despicable though it is, there's a definite political logic to his decision. After all, he's certainly not the first small business owner who's turned to fascism. Historically it has been the Pete Tierneys of this world that have bankrolled fascist movements, hoping for protection against big business. However, when fascists get into power, they inevitably turn against their former backers, as they struggle to run a capitalist economy in crisis.

The Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative big business parties have each played a part in Quiggins' demise. It was the Lib Dem council who drew up the Bluecoat Triangle Plan as part of their successful Capital Of Culture bid. This meant that the Quiggins market in School Lane would have to be demolished, to make way for the Liverpool One project of the Tory aristocratic Duke of Westminster. In May 2004, the Labour government backed this proposal, and Quiggins closed its doors on 1st July 2006. Since then, Tierney has been looking for a permanent city centre site, and sought the lease on the former John Lewis store on Church Street. Unfortunately for him, the ever-expanding Rapid Hardware beat him to this piece of property.

The 2008 Capital Of Culture award has tightened the grip of big capital on Liverpool. Small business has felt itself increasingly marginalised. However - as this revelation demonstrates - working people cannot defend small business without playing into the hands of the most reactionary interests. Our culture is not something that can be bought from a shop, no matter how 'alternative' that shop seems to be. It has to be created in opposition to the profit system.

1912: Strike at Wilson's Bobbin Works, leading to the 'Garston Riots'

On 4th May 1912, a strike began at Wilson's Bobbin Works in the Garston area of Liverpool. The dispute was to last until August, and won widespread support from the local community, resulting in riots when scab labour was brought in to cross the picket lines.

Less than a year before, Liverpool had seen its own mini general strike, centred on the docks and transport, which had paralysed the city's commerce for much of the summer, and caused massive police brutality. The two thousand bobbin workers - many of whom were female - must have taken great inspiration from this struggle.

Click here for the full article from Nerve magazine.

436,000 Liverpool Residents Snub May Day March

Imagine a May Day march with no chants, no demands, and very few banners. Who'd want to go to that? What if the keynote speaker was a parasitic class collaborator, who had recently sold out tens of thousands of workers? Would that inspire anyone? Not really.

So no surprise that only a handful of dedicated people joined the Trades Union Congress' annual death march, which is in effect nothing more than a sedate procession commemorating our ongoing defeat at the hands of the profit system.

The diehards proceeded from the Casa pub on Hope Street to the Victoria Monument in Derby Square. There they joined a small group of people who had been listening to live music.

The first speech - delivered by journalist and campaigner Ewa Jasiewicz - was by far the most inspirational. This can be put down to two factors. Firstly, she read statements of solidarity from Iraqi trade unionists, who are in constant danger of attack from both the US-led occupation and various sectarian militia. Secondly, because Jasiewicz read it with considerable passion, something a million miles away from the calculated platitudes of the bureaucrats who shared the stage with her. "We look forward to the day when we have a world based on co-operation and solidarity", the declaration ended, "We look forward to a world free from war, sectarianism, competition and exploitation".

By contrast, the addresses of Communication Workers Union bureaucrats Billy Hayes and Jane Loftus were exercises in sickening hypocrisy, only a mile from the Copperas Hill local base of the strike the pair sold out just half a year ago. Last July, General Secretary Hayes gave a speech in the city, and described Royal Mail’s proposed new contract as a "carve up" between Royal Mail bosses and their "rich mates". He then spent the next few months working with those bosses to control and undermine the resulting industrial action (including wildcat strikes in Liverpool), and compelling the postal workers to accept almost exactly the same appalling terms and conditions originally offered. In fact Hayes' rambling May Day speech was remarkable only for the fact that he did not mention the dispute at all! Certainly, none of the Copperas Hill workers seemed to have been there to cheer him on!

The next speaker was Maureen (no surname was given), an asylum seeker originally from Nigeria, who declared that she was "so glad to hear that there's something like solidarity in the United Kingdom". She appealed for help with her case, and support for "human rights" generally.

The contribution of CWU President and Socialist Workers Party member Loftus was perhaps even more two-faced than that of her general secretary. Though she voted against the settlement during the negotiation process, she did not alert postal to the sellout that was being prepared in their name. Even when the deal had been agreed and was put to a vote of the CWU membership, this supposed 'revolutionary' did not speak out against it. At Thursday's rally, Loftus only dedicated a few words to the massive struggle her union had taken part in, and did nothing to shed light on her own role in bringing about a massive defeat for postal workers.

The address by Steve Farley was almost entirely nondescript and unmemorable. In a year when the government has handed his Public and Commercial Services union members an effective pay cut, he had nothing of any substance to say beyond the empty buzzwords of "solidarity" and "socialism", and the invoking of former 'glories' such as the rule of the Militant-led council in Liverpool.

There is nothing less radical than the endless repeating of cliches, especially when they are not followed through with sustained and coordinated action. Apart from Ewa Jasiewicz's contribution, all the platform contributions were so vague as to be interchangeable with those made at countless other May Day rallies. This is poisonous, because its effect is to alienate people from a day which originated as a festival of resistance. There is never any analysis of why we are getting hammered, there is just the endless repetition of the fact that we are. This breeds hopelessness, and helps explain the diminishing turnouts.

Every object that is sold or distributed on this planet, and every service offered, is the product of labour. Every penny that a boss makes off that labour is stolen from the person who actually did the work. The people who shape the world - the working class - allow it to be that way, because they feel isolated from each other and do not feel their true power. Anything which obscures this reality is part of the problem, not the solution.

Billy Hayes does not sort or deliver post. Instead, he lives off the membership fees of people who do. It is therefore in his interests for the CWU to have as many members as possible, but he knows that to achieve this he must make sure his members accept Royal Mail's drive for profitabilty, or else Royal Mail will bypass the union, more redundancies will be made, and he will lose his privileged position.

When production and distribution was largely organised on national lines, union members could force their leaders to extract significant concessions from the employers. However, production and distribution is more global with every passing day. This leads to cut-throat competition around the globe, with governments fighting to promise business leaders the best rates of profit. Trade union leaders are fully behind this drive for profits, because of their position relative to the workforce.

With the two notable exceptions of Ewa Jasiewicz and Maureen the asylum seeker, the platform at the Merseyside May Day 'rally' was covered by the decaying corpse of the trade union bureaucracy. The unfolding economic crisis is truly global, and will require international solidarity on a scale that has yet to be seen. Very few of the Liverpool people who will fight that fight were at the Thursday rally. The missing hundreds of thousands are part of the sleeping beauty which must be awakened by economic necessity. When the new working class movement comes, its May Day must sweep away the bureaucrats who keep us apart.

Click here for photos, video, and audio.

1926: General Strike begins, solid in Liverpool

On 3rd May 1926, Britain's first - and so far only - general strike began, in solidarity with attacks on the wages and conditions of miners.

The government declared a state of emergency, and warships docked all around the country. HMS Ramillies and HMS Barham lurked ominously in the Mersey, while two battalions of troops were sent to Liverpool. Clearly, Britain’s second largest port was of great strategic importance.

Workers on Merseyside were among the best organised. Local activists had begun setting up a ‘council of action’ ten months before the strike, and had established a reliable network of communication. This was important, because most of the commercial presses had been stopped or severely restricted, and the Council of Action needed to let people know what was going on. Out of four million strikers, Merseyside provided about one hundred thousand. On the second day, the Council of Action reported that all engineers and shipyard workers on the Mersey were out. In Birkenhead and Wallasey, a group of strikers attacked the trams and brought them to a halt. Some people returned to work after a few days, while a strange alliance of unemployed and rich people became ‘blacklegs’ and crossed picket lines. But generally the strike was solid, and would probably have continued far beyond ten days, had the TUC leaders not negotiated a return to work with the government.

Click here for my full article from Nerve magazine. Click here for 'Ten Days In The Class War' - my timeline of Merseyside life during the general strike.

Persepolis (12A)

Directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi
Based on graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi

With top US, Israeli and French politicians threatening to obliterate Iran, and Iranians often being portrayed in the media as being a bunch of fanatical barbarians, this honest, charming and amusing animation is a pleasant antidote to all the nastiness. Ultimately, however, it fails to fully convince, and the second part drifts off into dangerous waters.

Persepolis (taking its name from the capital of the old Persian empire), is an animated version of Iranian exile Marjane Satrapi's graphic novels. It tells the story of Satrapi's life, from her very early years as an innocent child with big ideas, up to her decision to become a writer in France as an adult.

The first hour of the film is sometimes joyful, sometimes sad, but always enthralling. Through playful Marjane's young eyes we experience events such as the overthrow of the western backed Shah, and the war with neighbouring Iraq. Her family, who lived relatively comfortable lives, nevertheless risked everything by joining the Moscow-backed Communist Party. As the Shah's regime was toppled, the Communists threw their weight behind the Islamicists, led by Ayatollah Khomeini. Sadly, this spelled the end for many of Marjane's left-wing relatives and friends, as they were rounded up and either imprisoned or executed.

A traumatised but still rebellious Marjane could not live under the strict new regime (never has buying an Abba record seemed this daring), so her surviving family sent her away to Austria. There, she had some fun with the 'underground' scene, but found many people to be pretentious and empty. In fact the individualism of 1980s western society almost killed her, as she ended up nearly overdosing and choking to death.

However, it is at the point when Marjane returned to Iran that the film becomes much less absorbing. She found some solace in familiar faces, especially that of her grandmother, but with revolution not on the horizon, she retreated into herself. Whereas this is perfectly understandable, it doesn't make for great cinema. After all, 'what is the point of my life?' has been done many times before. For Satrapi, the answer was Paris.

Towards the end, the film gets mired in excessive sentimentality, and leaves the current situation in Iran practically untouched. While Khomeini's followers are still in power, there are massive divisions within the ruling elite, who are all deeply unpopular amongst the general public. None of this appears in Persepolis though, because it seems that Iranian politics since the late 1980s has passed Satrapi by. This creates a general impression of hopelessness that the people of Iran can change their way of life, and unintentionally feeds into the pro-war drive in the United States and elsewhere.

With the French government of Nicolas Sarkozy apparently signed up to supporting any new aggression against Iran, it is no surprise to see this film getting a lot of support from the French establishment.

May Day On Merseyside

This week, people on Merseyside and around the world will be celebrating International Workers' Day - or May Day - an event that has been held every year since 1890. It was originally established as a strike day, commemorating the 'Haymarket martyrs', who were framed and then killed by the state of Illinois for their part in the struggle for the eight hour working day.

On Thursday, 1st May, there will be a march and rally organised by Merseyside TUC, where Communication Workers Union general secretary Billy Hayes and others will address marchers.This will be followed by a party at the Next To Nowhere social centre on Bold Street, organised by the Liverpool Social Forum, including music, food, and the unveiling of a special May Day exhibition.

On Saturday, 3rd May, the LSF have also planned a mass stall on Church Street. It is anticipated that many different political groups will band together and show their solidarity against growing police repression of activists.

Previous Mersey May Days on Indymedia: 2007 | 2006 | 2005

Some People

Written by John Dillon
Vauxy Theatre company
Unity Theatre (17th - 19th April 2008)

So we're well into 2008 now, and Liverpool people are officially living in the European Capital Of Culture. It's supposed to be all glitz and glamour, though anyone who's walked through the city, and especially beyond the centre, knows that it's anything but. A play presenting the reality behind the banners therefore has to do more than present us with what is already staring us in the face.

Some People followed an evening in the life of three people from Liverpool's street-bound underclass, as they try to keep warm, get fed, and while away the endless hours. Irish intellectual Danny (Michael Christopher) eloquently pronounced on poetry and the inequities of life. Frazer (Danny Williamson) was bigoted and belligerent, but had a perfectly functioning bullshit detector. Marie (Laura Holden) was a drug addicted prostitute who brings some meagre comfort (and stolen supplies) to her two friends.

There is a lot to recommend this play. All three actors performed superbly, and were completely convincing, at least as far as the script would allow. And there were plenty of darkly humorous laughs to be had, often when Frazer verbally punctured either Danny's sentimentality or society's hypocrisy with his biting wit. But for a play that was nearly two and a half hours long, it had very little of any value to say about people existing on the very edge of society.

This quickly became apparent after the interval, when the trio took turns to tell their life stories. In each case, there was a yawning gap between a traumatic but isolated event in the character's personal history, and the fact of their homelessness. Frazer's wife had died, Danny had been sexually assaulted by a priest at the age of nine, and Marie's baby had been taken off her when she was fourteen. Sure, all these could be links in the chain, but they couldn't be the chain itself, or even the main part of it.

Similarly, apart from the accents and the distant celebratory fireworks, there was nothing to suggest that this was Liverpool in the here and now. It is a place where there are thousands of newly built flats lying empty, where people are getting thrown out of their homes to make way for the wealthy, and where poverty and a lack of social housing has created a housing list twenty thousand names long. Not to even allude to this is a glaring omission in a play about homelessness, and one that helps to trap us in the current unhappy circumstances.

Outside the theatre, a woman explained that she had been homeless, and that she had found the production cathartic. That's great for her, but it doesn't put a roof over anyone's head.

Happy-Go-Lucky (15)

Written and directed by Mike Leigh
Screening at FACT from 18th April 2008

As someone who can't stand anything more frivolous than the news or Grumpy Old whoever it is this week, perhaps I'm not the best person to write about such a chirpy character as Poppy (Sally Hawkins). But then, maybe that makes me perfect to do it. You see, it isn't about whether the glass is half full or half empty; it's about filling the damned drink receptacle. And then emptying it.

The woman in question is a primary school teacher, and despite the rigours of the national curriculum, SATs and league tables, takes a great joy in her work (perhaps because none of those things seem to exist in the Happy-Go-Lucky universe). Her personal life is similarly carefree; she has a very close friendship with her flatmate Zoe (Alexis Zegerman), and her sister is pregnant with her first child. When Poppy's bike gets stolen, she doesn't get upset, she merely regrets - for a fleeting moment - not getting to "say goodbye", and arranges some driving lessons.

It is this which puts her in contact with straitlaced instructor Scott (Eddie Marsan), whose worldview couldn't be more different to that of his breezy protegee. Lonely, angry and paranoid, he clutches at religion like a drowning person grasping the air, and uses obscure demonical references as memory aids. But even this doesn't particularly trouble Poppy, she makes a joke out of his "dark" mutterings, and tells him to "Cheer up, it might never happen". Clearly, for Scott, it already has.

Entrenched, systematic problems exist in our society - like the homelessness Poppy briefly encounters - which have causes and effects. Isolated individuals, whether they smile or frown, joke or moan, cannot change these structures. In the film's final scene, Poppy tells Zoe that people "make their own luck". While of course it is true that hard work is sometimes rewarded, this brand of kooky self-help individualism could never be a solution for most people, or even for anyone in the long term, once they get mugged by reality. Does Leigh seriously mean to tell us the homeless man - and by extension all homeless people - is/are just lazy? Or too down in the mouth?

I usually don't have this trouble with Mike Leigh stuff. Normally his films - falling within that genre dubbed 'social realism' - have at least attempted to portray the struggles of working class life. So yes, that often means a lot of sadness and messed-up people, but you can only begin to overcome problems if you acknowledge their existence. His 1950s backstreet abortionist Vera Drake (2004) faced many obstacles, and did her best for people, though she sometimes cried. There's nothing wrong with that, but there's something terribly wrong with her 2008 equivalent: she's too happy-go-lucky.

1989: Boycott of Sun newspaper begins after it vilifies Liverpool fans at Hillsborough stadium tragedy

On 19th April 1989, an unofficial Liverpool-wide boycott of The Sun newspaper began, after Rupert Murdoch's newspaper - which had long railed against the 'Socialist Republic of Liverpool' - published a series of lies about Liverpool fans' behaviour during the Hillsborough disaster, under the banner headline 'The Truth'.

The previous Saturday, 15th April, Liverpool had been playing Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium, in an FA Cup Semi Final. The match was abandoned six minutes into the first half, as fans began climbing over the steel fencing and onto the pitch. Due to overcrowding and a police decision to open a set of gates without turnstiles, fans were being crushed to death at the front of the terraces. The pitch began to fill with people trying to escape the mayhem, and receive medical treatment.

Ninety-four fans died on the day, and 766 were injured. By the Wednesday, the death toll was ninety-five, following the death of fourteen-year-old Lee Nicol (Tony Bland would die in 1993, having never woken from a coma).

The disaster was highly embarrassing for the Thatcherite establishment, at a time of heightened social tensions, especially since it was becoming clear from witness statements that the police bore a heavy responsibility. In conjunction with David Duckenfield, Chief Superintendent in charge on the day, then Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie responded by trying to shift the blame onto Liverpudlians, who the front page claimed had 'picked pockets of victims', 'urinated on the brave cops' and 'beat up PC giving kiss of life'.

This backfired massively. MacKenzie's allegations were shown to be fictional by the Taylor Inquiry, which investigated the causes and aftermath of the disaster. In Liverpool, furious crowds stole and burned thousands of copies of the paper. From that day onwards, many local shops refused to stock The Sun, a boycott that still holds in many parts of the city.

The Hillsborough Justice Campaign still works extensively within Liverpool and around the world. On January 6th 2007, fans organised a 'Truth Day' event to coincide with the televised FA Cup tie against Arsenal at Anfield. This was to protest against the BBC hiring Kelvin MacKenzie as a presenter.

Kirkby Nan's Planning War!

Which plan do you prefer?

Option One: Kirkby grandmother and retired laundry worker Dot Reid plus loads of her neighbours get chucked out of their homes, which are then demolished to make way for yet another Tesco, some more shops, and a new stadium for Everton FC.

Option Two: Tesco CEO and scouser when it suits him Sir Terry Leahy gets slung out of his luxury home in Hertfordshire, which is then demolished to make way for a community garden with water features and a kiosk for pensioners.

Well both these planning applications are officially being considered by local authorities at the moment - the first by Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, and the second by Welwyn Hatfield Council.

Dot Reid submitted her application a week ago, retaliating against Tesco's campaign to make her homeless. She told the Daily Post that “I do not want my home knocking down for a superstore and a football stadium, but that is what will happen if the plans get passed.

“I thought how would Sir Terry and his family feel if their home was being threatened? That is why I put in an application to knock his house down.

“I am appalled our homes are under threat. It would mean the break-up of a happy community.

“I have not had any proper consultation over these plans and if I was asked, the answer would be: ‘I am not moving and you are not knocking down my home’.”

Tesco have contemptuously dismissed Mrs Reid’s application as a “publicity stunt”. They can do that because they know the legal process is loaded against working class people, and that big business can use its financial muscle and political connections to get its way.

The destruction of working class Merseyside homes in the name of 'regeneration' is not unique to Kirkby. Similar fights are also going on in Toxteth and Edge Lane and Kensington. In fact they're going on all over the world. These struggles need to link up not only with each other, but everyone fighting against the effects of the profit system, if they are to succeed in the long term.

2005: Train drivers refuse to cross picket line, bringing Merseyrail to a halt on Aintree weekend

On 9th April 2005, one hundred and seventy Merseyrail guards from the RMT union held the second day of their two-day strike, coinciding with the Grand National horse race at Aintree. In solidarity, train drivers refused to cross the picket lines, and no Merseyside trains ran on either the Friday or the Saturday.

The Aintree week action was estimated to have cost Merseyrail's operators hundreds of thousands of pounds, since the festival traditionally brings more passengers onto the network than any other event in the calendar.

Charles Barnett, Managing Director of Aintree Racecourse, described the situation as "jolly inconvenient", while his counterpart at Merseyrail expressed his disappointment that the guards had refused an offer when he was seeking "the long-term benefit of our staff", and that the strikers were causing "severe damage to the much improved image of Merseyrail and Merseyside generally".

The reality of the situation was very different. The guards had been offered a 35 hour working week (down from 36), in line with their demands. However, they had been expected to pay for this with more restrictive rostering, an attack on sick pay, and a loss of compensation for rest days. The local media did not publicise these conditions, preferring to portray management as innocent victims.

The dispute lasted into August, when RMT members voted to accept a slightly improved offer by the narrow margin of 70 to 61. The union's executive had suspended strikes in June, when Merseyrail agreed to talks.

1987: First Mutual Aid Centre opens in Victoria Street

On 1st April 1987, at a time of massive unemployment in Liverpool, a group of fifteen unemployed people and a couple of students set up a squatted social centre in what is now Millennium House, on the corner of Whitechapel and Victoria Street. They established an advice centre, a vegan cafe, and a space for film screenings. While the press where screaming about lazy dole 'scroungers', these activists fought bailiffs, the 'socialist' council, and fascists, proving they were anything but lazy. Eventually they were successfully evicted, but a second centre was set up at 45 Seel Street.

For the full story, click here.

2003: Central Liverpool blocked by demonstrations as Iraq war begins

On 20th March 2003, as the invasion of Iraq began thousands of miles away, central Liverpool was repeatedly blocked by large groups of angry protesters. School children, students, and the unemployed led the protests during working hours, but they were then joined by many others, including Celtic fans on their way to Anfield. The activity went on throughout the night, with anti-war graffiti being sprayed in many parts of Merseyside.

The first anti-war action of the day was a sit-down protest on Upper Parliament Street during rush hour. Police tried to intervene, but support from local residents made them back off.

The Stop The War Coalition had organised a city centre protest for noon, which met at the podium on Church Street. At about the same time, students and staff from the University of Liverpool began their march into the city centre, and were met by whole classes of school children, who had walked out of their lessons. By the time all the groups converged, there were hundreds of children taking part. Many of the protesters marched around town, chanting anti-war slogans. The police allowed this to take place, only clamping down when they approached The Strand, and the route was blocked by police horses and vans. Soon the word got round that there was a Ministry Of Defence building on Water Street, and that this must have been the reason for the police blockade, so some people made attempts to get through police lines, chanting 'Whose streets? Our streets!' and 'We all live in a terrorist regime' to the tune of The Beatles' 'Yellow Submarine'.

These protests went on all afternoon, with a constant flow of people joining and leaving. Away from the city centre, small workplace actions were also taking place. Forty Inland Revenue staff had walked out at lunch time, and delivered a letter of protest to Sefton Council, who had made clear they supported the invasion. Employees at the Department for Work and Pensions office on High Park Street in Toxteth had united with a few social services workers for a protest. Other Social Services staff in Fazakerly had walked out briefly. Lecturers at four Liverpool Community College sites had held protests.

At 17:00, people began to congregate for the day's main event. The numbers of protesters was quickly being swelled by people leaving work, while other workers were trying to make their way home. At this point, a large group of students made a break into Hanover Street, and started blocking traffic, and others followed. When the group reached Lime Street, a major arterial route was being clogged with protesters. The reason for doing this was clear in many people's minds. If the war was being fought over oil (like the 'no blood for oil' chants suggested), and cars ran on oil, then this was one way of attacking the war machine. It was unfortunate for people trying to get home, and some shouted at the protesters, but others sympathised with the action.

When all the police had backed up all the traffic that they could, the protest moved down to the Pier Head, where a silent 'die-in' was held. It was then on down to the Albert Dock, the Army Recruitment centre on James Street, the Queen Victoria statue in Derby Square, and back to Church Street.

Visions and Vindications: William Blake, Mary Wollstonecraft and the Radical Eighteenth Century

Second Year BA Drama students, Liverpool Hope University
Cornerstone gallery and theatre (13th-15th March 2008)

An interesting series of performances in the Cornerstone building at Hope University's Everton campus introduced the audience to some eighteenth century British radicals. The evenings included what were claimed to be the first ever stage dramatisations of William Blake's 'Visions of the Daughters of Albion'.

The first part of the show made full use of the Cornerstone's foyer, lobby and exhibition areas. A modern day female guide walked us through some kind of hall of living statues, where eighteenth century figures gave their views on men and women's relative places in society. An upper class dandy quoted the Bible as justification for female servitude, but Mary Wollstonecraft argued for equal rights, so that through education women could become 'companions' to their husbands; more than just property. A female follower attacked the slave trade, before Thomas Paine thundered against the unjust and illogical nature of a monarchist system.

This was very much the world that William Blake lived in. The quintessential Romantic era artist, he refused to compromise his poetry, his painting or his engravings, and often lived in poverty as a result, arguing that “where any view of Money exists Art cannot be carried on, but war only”. He detested the rapid industrialisation that was going on around him, and the growth in the power of church and state that it made necessary. For Blake, this seemed like the enslavement of nature itself, and he longed for a great rebellion that would set humanity back in balance with the rest of Creation. Like many Romantics, he invested great hope in the American and French revolutions, the most democratic dreams of which were embodied in Paine.

It was at this time that Blake wrote the 'Proverbs of Hell' - a selection of which was presented here - and 'Visions...'. All his work is highly symbolic, and this piece uses supernatural characters with obscurely referenced names to act-out human drama. At root, however, it is about Blake's belief that the new nation of America would break free from the chains of British (Albion) society, and bring about a perfect and natural way of living, where women would achieve equality, and become able to fully express their own sexuality. Of course, his wishes for the revolutions were never fulfilled, as they both marked a new stage of industrialisation and the development of capitalism in the respective countries.

The Drama students' interpretation of 'Visions...' was quite limited, relying on the collective positions of the twenty performers onstage, rather than many individual movements. It was mostly non-representational too, so little meaning could be teased out, and those in the audience unfamiliar with the work must have struggled to keep up. However, Blake's poetry was delivered well, both by the main protagonists and most of the class. This was their first full production, so with a little more Blakeian imagination and...well...vision, they could turn out to be talented performers.