Billy Elliot

If Billy Elliot is about one thing, it is that we are all capable of making lives for ourselves which are full of joy and self-expression. Whilst we might not all become ballet dancers, we are capable of finding moments of real profundity and creativity whatever our circumstances. But more than that, we have a duty to ourselves and each other to create a society where this possibility in all of us is nurtured and can flourish. We owe it to the next generation to create a world where it is possible for the Billy Elliots, as yet unborn, to have a chance to succeed and flourish rather than be fed to the machine which grinds us into identical pieces only fit for consumption. If Billy Elliot conveys any message at all, I hope it’s that it is possible to fight back and resist and it is possible to move on without forgetting where you come from.

‘I know that we can produce a society where man will cease to simply go to work and have a little leisure, but will release his latent talent and ability and begin to produce in the cultural sense all the things I know he’s capable of: music, poetry, writing, sculpture, whole works of art that, at the moment, lie dormant simply because we, as a society, are not able to tap it.’

Arthur Scargill, Leader of National Union of Mineworkers, 1982.

STS supplied the showdeck and all automation for this production including the performer flying.