The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

This was the book that “won the 1945 election for Labour” said Alan Sillitoe; the book that George Orwell said “everyone should read”.

It is the story of a group of painters and decorators working in Edwardian England, living in near poverty, exploited by the wealthy owners, struggling to earn enough to have the “necessities of life”. Our production is Stephen Lowe’s adaptation for Joint Stock.

We watch the painters as they transform the Mayor’s house; listen to their stories, their arguments and we follow them in their journey towards a new understanding. We join them at their annual “Beano”: the summer outing when once a year they get to relax and enjoy themselves.

It is a play told through humour and wit and the hymns and the Music Hall songs of the era and the portrayal of the grimness of their world. A world that, sadly, hasn’t changed nearly enough.

Come and join us, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, and change the World.