The Salford Docker by Salford Community Theatre

“Docks were alive then but they had to go…”

A young producer, Anna, tasks herself with creating a new radio ballad for dockwork: The Salford Docker. Negotiating the stories and histories of this industry we bring to life the memories of the Salford Docks, capturing its spirit through words and song. This play explores Ordsall in the 1950s and 1970s, we see dockers and their families face workplace struggles, community regeneration and the effects of de-industrialisation.

Coming to We Invented the Weekend, The Salford Docker will be free to listen to at locations around the festival. Scan the QR code to listen to excerpts of the radio play about the lives of Salford dockers, surrounded by the docks that they once worked on.

Salford Community Theatre work with local community performers exploring Salford’s past to create politically charged theatre that resonates with life in Salford today. Following a full staging of the piece in 2019, the cast and company reunited during lockdowns and limited interaction to create this audio adaptation of our play.

Directed by Steph Green and Sarah Weston

Location: The Navvie’s Garden by Seven Brother Stretch Tent & Dock 9

Saturday & Sunday 10am- 6pm

Suitable for: All ages, step-free

Salford Community Theatre was established in 2014 by a group of politically engaged theatre practitioners, who had the ambition of putting on socially engaged community theatre in Salford. We stand in the tradition of the Ann Jellicoe model of community plays, but seek to bring this out of its traditional setting and into a working class, urban environment.

We work with participants in Salford to create artistically excellent theatre which examines elements of Salford’s industrial, political and social history. Using the past as a lens, we connect contemporary Salfordians to their city through expression and art.

Through community theatre, we aim to enrich the lives of our actors through performance training, socials and community building. Taking part in our plays has had an impact on our participants political engagement, has improved mental health and well-being, decreased social isolation and built lifelong relationships.