Alan Plater's CLOSE THE COALHOUSE DOOR To Tour UK From April 2012

Northern Stage and Live Theatre in Newcastle Upon Tyne are thrilled to announce that they are joining forces to revive Alan Plater's playCLOSE THE COALHOUSE DOOR as a memorial production following his death in 2010. Directed by Samuel West, the production will open at Northern Stage on Wednesday 18 April, with previews from 13 April and will then tour the UK until June.

CLOSE THE COALHOUSE DOOR will tour the country whilst THE PITMEN PAINTERS, another Live Theatre production set in the mining community, continues to enjoy huge success in the West End. Writer Lee Hall, (best-known for his global smash hit musical Billy Elliot) has been commissioned to revisit the piece with a new ending and a new song to bring it up to date, especially as the play was written before the critical 1984 – 5 miners' strike.