WASTELAND

‘Wasteland’ is a dance theatre piece by director and choreographer Gary Clarke and sequel to his award winning production ‘COAL’ .

It premiered in 2019 with 3 National tours until the COVID-19 pandemic.

As well as a performer for ‘Wasteland’ I am an Associate Company member for Gary Clarke Company, where I assist Gary, rehearse the dancers and community cast and lead company class amongst other things.

The show has 6 professional dancers, a community cast of 4 male singers (who we find at every different venue) and 2 community brass players.

‘In 1994, the European Study of Deprivation named my home village of Grimethorpe as one of the poorest villages in Europe. As poverty and depression shattered through the village, the future looked bleak for my generation. The birth of the rave culture gave many of us the opportunity to escape these grim and grey realities and into a new world of expressive music and hard core dance. WASTELAND is my attempt at recapturing this pivotal time in British history when industrial Britain fell and a new sub culture emerged. I owe my passion for movement and dance to this time and the people who lived it.’

GARY CLARKE 2019

PRESS

‘Alistair Goldsmith’s performance is truly remarkable. There is nothing casual in his carefully choreographed drunken dance; and as an actor he movingly conveys the overwhelming hopeless of his character, even when he’s just sitting slumped in front of the TV.’

Teresa Guerreiro, Culture Whisper

‘As a middle-aged former miner, Alistair Goldsmith is spent, slumped and staggering; his bouts of anguished movement seem wrenched from the gut.’

Anna Winter, The Stage

‘Alistair Goldsmith’s last miner is a poignant ever-present figure on stage; he arrives with a zombie-like shuffle, careens around the stage in a skilfully executed piece of drunken dancing…’

Siobhan Murphy, Dance Tabs

‘…the 'Last Miner' – played with a heartbreaking poignancy by dancer Alistair Goldsmith…whose physical expressions of frustration metamorphise from conflict to tenderness. It's performed perfectly by Goldsmith and [Tom]Dunn…’

Eliza Gearty, The Skinny

Write-ups about Wasteland:

Lyndsey Winship, The Guardian

Helen Barrett, The Financial Times

Photographer: Joe Armitage Boneshaker Photography

Header Footage: Wasteland trailer taken from Gary Clarke Company’s youtube.