The Tyne Bridge is to be the setting for a spectacular performance honouring those who have put their lives on the line in the long campaign for civil rights.
Freedom on the Tyne, which will see hundreds of participants converging on the bridge, is a free event due to take place on the afternoon of Sunday, October 29.
Involving international performers along with local volunteers, it is the most ambitious event of Freedom City, the festival commemorating Dr Martin Luther King’s visit to Newcastle 50 years ago.
Organisers had hoped to use the Tyne Bridge for the climax of the event, partly because it harks back to Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where Dr King was involved in one of the key moments of the struggle for civil rights in 1965.
Now permission has been granted and Tim Supple, the renowned theatre director who is directing Freedom on the Tyne, is delighted.
“The iconic Tyne Bridge is a thrilling setting for the climax of this unique city-wide performance commemorating Martin Luther King and those who risked their lives to gain our freedom,” he said.
Freedom on the Tyne will start in four separate locations in Newcastle and Gateshead where different historic events will be remembered with an indoor performance. Particpants will then proceed to a second location for an outdoor performance.
Finally the various groups of performers, joined by marchers commemorating the famous Jarrow Crusade , will proceed towards the bridge for a memorable finale.
Hundreds of volunteers have attended workshops to prepare for the event, billed as a spectacular afternoon of theatre, music, dance, performance and art.
Tim Supple said: “The people of NewcastleGateshead will be the stars of the performance showing epic civil rights struggles from across the globe.
“We are still keen for more people in communities around the North East to get involved by signing up to one of our workshops where they will learn more about the unique performance.”
He promised that people watching the performance, as well as those taking part, would experience “a moving, inspiring and memorable afternoon”.
He said: “Standing together on the Tyne Bridge in a moment of reflection and solidarity for civil rights will be a powerful and striking image to send the world.”
A script for the Freedom on the Tyne event has been written by playwright Roy Williams whose latest play, Soul, explored the life and death of music legend Marvin Gaye.
Freedom on the Tyne will feature the following stories from history:
* A White Man’s Burden from Sharpeville, South Africa...
At a police station in the township of Sharpeville in 1960, officers are preparing to face a demonstration against the pass laws which require black people to carry personal details. .
People will see the protesters approach and hear their demands – before the outnumbered police lose their nerve and tragedy follows.
The enactment will start with an indoor performance at Riverside, Newcastle Quayside, at 3.20pm with an outdoor performance beside Live Theatre at 4.20pm.
* The Turning of Martin Luther King from Selma, USA...
Violence flared on the first march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery as black marchers demanded the vote. Then Dr King joined the protesters, first turning back and then leading them calmly across.
You will hear the arguments and join Dr King and the marchers.
The indoor performance will be at the redeveloped King’s Road Boiler House at Newcastle University at 3.25pm with an outdoor performance at Grey’s Monument at 4.35pm.
* The Haunting of General Dyer from Amritsar, India...
Hundreds of unarmed Indians were shot dead by troops under British command at Amritsar in 1919.
The performance focuses on the trial of Colonel Reginald Dyer who gave the order to fire and hear his testomony and those of the victims.
It will also feature the dancing spirits of the dead.
Indoor performance: Assembly Rooms, Fenkle Street, 3.30pm; outdoor performance: Bigg Market, 4.30pm.
* The ballad of Peterloo from St Peter’s Field, Manchester...
Join those who gathered in 1819 to hear orator Henry Hunt address their hunger and poverty. Then see how the cavalry, ordered to arrest Hunt, charged the crowd.
Indoor performance: St Mary’s Heritage Centre, Oakwellgate, Gateshead, 3.30pm; outdoor performance, Baltic Square, 4.35pm.
At 4.35pm there will a single performance outside the Theatre Royal commemorating the The Jarrow Crusade of October 1936 when some 200 men, led by Ellen Wilkinson, MP for Jarrow, marched to London to demand work.
It was on November 13, 1967 that Newcastle University gave Dr King an honorary degree – the only UK university to do so in his lifetime.
The American gave an impromptu speech, highlighting the “urgent and great problems” of racism, poverty and war. Six months later he was assassinated.
Newcastle City Council leader Coun Nick Forbes said the themes of war, poverty and racism “still have a huge resonance today”.
He said: “I’m proud that our city is remembering his visit through the Freedom City celebrations and I’m sure that this event, Freedom on Tyne, will be one of the highlights.
“The Tyne Bridge will provide an iconic backdrop to what I’m sure will be a moving and joyous commemoration.”
The Tyne Bridge will be closed during the performance and there will be some other road clsoures on the day.
Workshops for anyone keen to take part will take place at World Headquarters, Carliol Square, Newcastle, on October 7 and 14, from 2-4pm. For details check http://freedomcity2017.com/takepart/
