South Shields playwright to make history as General Strike performance heads to Newcastle
A playwright is set to make North East history when his play about a key moment in the 2926 General Strike takes to the stage.
A South Shields playwright has insisted his pride comes from telling working class stories as he is set to make history in Newcastle.
Ed Waugh, who wrote The Cramlington Train Wreckers, will become the first North East playwright to have seven shows performed at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle.
The performance will take place on Sunday, July 12, with 2026 marking the 100th anniversary of the 1926 General Strike.
As part of the show’s run, the production is also heading to Derry and Belfast.
The show has already toured at the end of 2024.
“The best thing is people are interested in working class history” says Ed.
“We are the mouthpiece effectively for people who have been forgotten. The problem is working class people don’t write about their lives.”
The play is based on a book by William Muckle, who was born in Westoe. Muckle was one of the eight people arrested following the train derailment which gave the play its name.
“It’s a wonderful book” adds Ed. “During the General strike 1.2 million miners were told they needed to take a 40% wage cut.”
Led by Muckle, the Cramlington event happened on March 10, seven days into the nine-day strike.
Miners uncoupled a rail on the mainline Edinburgh to London railway, expecting it to be a coal train which was undermining the strike.
However, they derailed a passenger train carrying 281 passengers.
Eight people were jailed for eight years following the incident, but were released early after pressure from the trade unions.
They were jailed in the July, 100 years to the month before the play will hit Newcastle.
“We have a fantastic working class history which isn’t taught in schools and that has been forgotten” adds Ed.
“What I want to do as a writer is to bring these incredible stories to the stage.
“Because of our brilliant team it allows tens of thousands of people to see these stories and to feel part of it.
“I wouldn’t advocate people derailing a train - it was a stupid thing to do!” he adds.
Tickets for the play at Newcastle’s Theatre Royal are available now.