{{Infobox play , name = Meeting Joe Strummer , writer =

Paul Hodson Paul Hodson is an English hard rock singer, songwriter and musician. Biography Paul Hodson has been the keyboard player of the band Ten from 2001 until September 2011. He has also played for the band Hard Rain since 1997 as well as for h ...

, characters = Nick
Steve , setting = Various , premiere = 2006 , place =

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, orig_lang =

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, subject = , genre =

Comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

;

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

''Meeting Joe Strummer'' is a two-handed play by

Introduction

''Meeting Joe Strummer'' is a perceptive, funny, and hard-hitting play about male friendship, integrity, and the struggle to retain youthful idealism in the face of life’s bitter blows, which was an

Fringe First winner in 2006. The play originally starred actors Steve North and

Nick Miles Nick Miles is an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Jimmy King in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. Prior to appearing on ''Emmerdale'', he made appearances in various television series such as '' Casualty'' and ''The Bill'' ...

and was produced by Brighton Theatre Events at The Gilded Balloon. It subsequently toured the UK in Autumn 2007 with Steve North and

Huw Higginson Huw Higginson (born 21 February 1964) is an English actor, best known for playing PC George Garfield in ''The Bill'' from 1989 to 1999. Higginson has also appeared in '' Heartbeat'', '' EastEnders'', ''Casualty'', '' By Any Means'' and '' Jess ...

taking the role of 'Nick' and in March/April 2010 with Steve North playing 'Steve' and Jason Pitt playing 'Nick', produced by The Future is Unwritten Theatre Company and directed by Paul Hodson.

Story

Fortysomethings Nick and Steve meet again for the first time in years at a gig by

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...

and

the Mescaleros The Mescaleros were the British backing band for British singer, musician and songwriter Joe Strummer, formed in 1999, which issued three albums prior to Strummer's death in 2002. Many of the band members were multi-instrumentalists. The origin ...

. They have seen a lot since they first met as teenagers watching

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

play the

Rock Against Racism Rock Against Racism (RAR) was a political and cultural movement which emerged in 1976 in reaction to a rise in racist attacks on the streets of the United Kingdom and increasing support for the far-right National Front at the ballot box. Betwe ...

rally at

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

in 1978: divorce, class warfare, acid house, the bleak Thatcher years and even soap stardom, but the flame of punk idealism – what they describe as the “inner Strummer” – has never quite gone out. Have they done what they wanted in their lives? Can they put their past differences behind them? And - most importantly - will they meet their hero, Joe Strummer? With a cast of only two, the play is performed with no props on a bare stage in front of a large banner of

. There are rapid

jump cut A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which a single continuous sequential shot of a subject is broken into two parts, with a piece of footage being removed in order to render the effect of jumping forward in time. Camera positions of the subje ...

s in time and place between scenes.

External links

The Future is Unwritten Theatre Company
set up by Paul Hodson and news about future and current tours of the play.
Review of play from ''The Guardian''

Strummerville
the charity set up by the friends and family of Joe Strummer in the year after his death. The charity seeks to reflect Joe's unique contribution to the music world by offering support, resources and performance opportunities to artists who would not normally have access to them.

in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' by Chris Salewicz, later author of the biograph
Redemption Song
2006 plays Comedy plays English plays