Council denies blocking Burnley riots play (From This Is Lancashire)

Council denies blocking Burnley riots play

2:45pm Monday 23rd November 2009

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A COUNCIL leader has hit back at claims a play about the Burnley riots was stopped from being shown in the town.

Producers behind Mixed Up North, a play by a London-based company about the 2001 clashes, said they had been unable to find a Burnley theatre, despite it being shown in Bolton, Liverpool, Lancaster, Northampton, Leicester, Southampton and London.

Bosses at the Out of Joint company said Burnley Youth Theatre and an unnamed school had failed to put on the play despite showing initial interest, and also said Burnley Council was “frightened” the production would portray the town negatively.

But yesterday, council leader Gordon Birtwistle said: “I have not even heard of the play and nobody from the theatre company has spoken to me about it.

“No doubt if the theatre group was serious and the play was exciting then everybody would want to show it.

“Anyway, the council does not have any control over Burnley Youth Theatre or any schools so there would be nothing we could do about it.

“I would suggest that this group forgets about 2001 and has a look at Burnley now, with new schools and more investment.

“These people seem to make money out of making historical claptrap.”

In August, Out of Joint director Max Stafford-Smith launched a search for a venue in Burnley after a planned run at Burnley Youth Theatre hit problems.

However, he has now accused Burnley Council of trying to bar the play from being shown in the town.

He is reported to have told a national newspaper: “They were frightened that it would show a negative image of their town.

“Some members of Burnley Council did not like what characters in the play say about the council’s policies and wanted to change this.”

Despite Out of Joint’s problems in Burnley, Mixed Up North was shown at Stonyhurst College in Hurst Green and the ACE Centre in Nelson.

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