Hadaway
Hadaway: the making of a writer was a play specially commissioned by Cloud Nine Theatre Group for the Tom Hadaway Festival, which took place throughout Tyneside in October 2003, a celebration of the North-East's most acclaimed living dramatist.
Valerie Laws wrote, in her foreword to the Iron Press edition of this play:
Having known Tom Hadaway for some time, I was aware he had a fascinating life story. So when I heard that a festival in his honour was planned, I approached festival organiser Peter Mortimer, friend and my sometime publisher, to say that I felt it would be a good idea to write a play about Tom's life. I believe my exact words were, 'I'm sure you can find someone more eminent than me to do it.' He agreed with the first proposition; and commissioned me to write the play for his theatre group, Cloud Nine.
I felt very privileged, and rather daunted, to be given this commission. I began by spending a lot of time talking to Tom, listening to his stories and taping his voice. I transcribed hours of tape, and found my interest crystallising mainly round the events of his early life, which much later made him begin writing. The material was wonderful, the task of how to present it as a piece of drama rather than a series of anecdotes more difficult.
I felt that one of Tom's main motivations as a writer was to give a voice to the voiceless; it's one of mine too, a frequent theme in my poetry and previous full length play. The only way to do this for the people from Tom's past was to make them live as characters, to relate to each other as well as to him. So I took the decision to fictionalise aspects of the story, while staying true to the material. Many facts and dates stated by Tom were uncheckable; he described a largely unrecorded life. I therefore decided not to get bogged down in a documentary approach, but to remain faithful to Tom's memories.
The play moves over many decades but is mainly rooted in the life of North Shields, by the sea and the river. In capturing now lost expressions, dialect, and preoccupations, as well as wide reading of archive material, I called upon my memories of my late grandmother, Dora Carr, who came from Byker's shipbuilding community. My father Lindsay Laws, a contemporary of Tom's, grew up in Cullercoats' fishing community, and I used my knowledge of his upbringing also to complement Tom's words.
Years before I met Tom Hadaway, I saw his plays and admired their truth and poetry. It's a great honour to write this play about Tom, and very exciting to watch the director, Anne Orwin, bring it to life so brilliantly with the talented cast of Cloud Nine.
Read about other plays by Valerie Laws.
Read an interview with Valerie about this play.
Other publications by Valerie Laws.