"A musical play celebrating the magnificent spirit of the North East, Close the Coalhouse Door is told with a wry smile, sparkling dialogue and moving songs by an extended family of wives, vicars, sons, daughters and of course the miners themselves.

The show is an exhilarating ride through all the major strikes, victories and disappointments in British mining history from the formation of the first unions in 1831. Structured around joyful and heart-tugging songs inspired by working mens' songs of each period it has all the irony and lively mischief of Oh What A Lovely War, the dark grit of Our Friends In The North, and the triumph over adversity of Billy Elliot."

Written by the late English playwright and screenwriter Alan Plater, based on stories by Sid Chaplin.