| Set
in Oldham, 'Threads' is a story brimming
with
tragedy, humour and passion.
The musical opens in 1802 with the birth
of twin boys to an Oldham collier's wife,
Sarah Lees. The abject poverty of the working
classes is worsened, around this time, by
the effects of the Napoleonic Wars, the
Corn Laws, the rise of the factory system
and the accompanying health and social hazards
in the factories and the coalmines.
As the twins grow we see what life was
like through the eyes of the children. The
death of Joseph, the twins' father, in a
pit accident occasioned by the use of child
labour down the pit, would prove to have
a lasting effect on the Lees family.
 When
they are seventeen years old, on 16 August
1819, the twins take a day off work to join
a march into Manchester, along with other
working class folk from most northern towns.
The march to St Peter's Field has a real
carnival atmosphere, but this is changed
by the charge of the 15th Manchester Hussars
into the unarmed and peaceful crowd. The
brutality and hopelessness of the Peterloo
Massacre culminates in the death of one
of the twins. This murder kindles a desire
in the remaining twin to fight for all the
reforms his brother had died for: workers
rights; health and safety issues; universal
suffrage; the reform of the Corn Laws and
education for all.
 Ten
years later, with the help of Jane Milne,
the Parson's daughter, we see a reformed
and newly educated twin join the reformist,
John Knight. He tours the area giving speeches,
especially in the local pubs, to encourage
people to join the fight for reform and
representation. The Angel Inn, on High Street,
was well-known for the quality of the debates
to be heard there, but even here the apathy
of the working people is clearly seen. They
would rather drown their sorrows in the
pub or go to a cockfight than talk about
politics, or the need for the vote.
After an attempt on the lives of Knight
and William Cobbett, to try to thwart the
local campaign for reform, the perpetrators
of the twin's murder are brought to justice.
The campaigning continues and, just when
it seems that he is ready to give it all
up, the remaining twin hears the announcement
of the First Reform Bill in 1831, and the
desire of the people of Oldham for him to
be their representative in Parliament. |
