Writer Neil Gore chats about the Ricky Tomlinson inspired play United We Stand

When did you first become aware of the Shrewsbury 24?

I had been aware of Ricky's involvement with the trade union movement and his imprisonment for trade union activity for many years. I was also aware of some sketchy details of the case of the Shrewsbury 24 until several audience members, who had seen our first production of Ragged Trousered Philanthropists and the subsequent We Will Be Free! – Tolpuddle Martyrs Story, recommended that we consider the subject as a basis for a future project. Initial research suggested that it would be an excellent follow up to our two shows as it brought the debate inherent in those plays right up-to-date and put it in a very modern setting.

It fits very well with what we aim to achieve through our work in telling stories of the past that have something to say about and relevance to the politics of today. The story of the builders' strike, and the subsequent events around the police investigation and the government interference in the judicial process are extremely compelling. As is the subsequent court case itself, and the stories of the individuals involved and how these events wrecked their lives and impacted on the lives of their nearest and dearest. It also brought into question the future of the trade union movement and set the tone for industrial conflict right through into the 1980s and up to the present day.

What made you write the play?

A most appealing side to the story of the Shrewsbury 24 is that it encompasses several aspects of the period of the early seventies – government policy, industrial strife and political struggle, the police and judiciary, the press, the world of work and health and safety, social issues and lives of ordinary working people and the importance of cooperation. Culturally too the early seventies was a time where Britain was emerging from post-war consensus into a time of new and available prosperity and consumer goods, and into an increasingly exciting pop culture of diverse styles and tastes. I was just into teenage years in the early seventies and writing the play was a very enjoyable nostalgic experience.

It's a very compelling story that needs to be told, especially as many wrongs of the past are being shockingly revealed bit by bit. This is a story that rivals those other tales of injustice, as it was carried out with such spite and vigour, shrouded in a conspiracy of either silence or disinformation by the press both nationally and locally. The story of the play aims to lift the lid on how the establishment will stop at nothing to maintain self-preservation, and demonstrates how efficiently it engages all in power, especially government and judiciary, to service those ends, irrespective of who might suffer as a consequence.

Do you think we have lost the ability to protest? Or do you think it's often buried by news corporations?

A bit of both really. There are plenty of protests now that have covered a wide range of causes and campaigns, from Gaza to anti-austerity, from anti-fracking to anti-bedroom tax to NHS privatisation and so forth, so we haven't lost the ability to protest. But changes in society since the 60s and 70s have led us away from a culture of cooperation to a more disconnected and scattered way of living. This has impacted on people's trust in the notion of collaboration and organisation and affected the ability to protest. News Corporations are therefore less likely to cover stories of organised protest as it might appear to be un-newsworthy, whereas disorganised protests or riots would be of more interest, perhaps.

Also, news agencies have developed over the years in such a way that they are more likely to create a notion of protest to 'whip up' a story, such as in the case of the rise of the UKIP, so that then self-fulfils as a major focus instead of more legitimate concerns and protest.

What do you hope to achieve with this play?

We aim to get this play around as many venues and towns and cities as possible in a six-month tour from September to April 2015, and encourage as many as possible to see it. It's a very important story. Important because it tells of real courage and real fight and real suffering. It's important because none of those who were involved thought that anything like this could happen to them. That's the message, as much as anything, that we would like audiences to take away with them. Along with that we wish to achieve assistance to an already strong and successful campaign (the Shrewsbury 24 Campaign) that is seeking justice for those building workers that had their lives turned upside down over forty years ago, just because they were seeking to better their lot and the lot of others in their industry.

We aim to continue what we have achieved with our previous productions, to raise awareness and debate about the important issues that affect our daily lives; to put them in a perspective that enables us to make sense of them and able to challenge them if the need arises, as well as to highlight the importance and necessity of collective action and organisation.

What does the play offer people that know of this case?

People that know of the case will be fully aware of the events that led to the imprisonment and criminalisation of ordinary building workers in 1973 and 1974. They will be aware of the threat to trade union rights that this case posed at that time. They will be aware of the strength of character of those involved in the case and the real conspiracy behind the activities of those in power. But we aim to present all these aspects of the case in a lively piece of theatre with music to bring the story to life through drama and entertainment.

Our work has been described as folk theatre at its best, and we aim to emulate the agit-prop political theatre companies of the early seventies in bringing important stories to life and invigorate debate around the subject of the case. It was Ewan MacColl who said that folk music is the music of the masses and inherently political. We aim to keep it alive through a theatre experience that makes a mark and makes a point, and we aim to have some fun while we are doing it.

How difficult has it been to get off the ground?

As with any theatre project it demands huge amounts of preparation and research. Of major consideration is how important the subject of a potential play is and how interesting it is likely to be to enable it to gain a momentum and so develop support for the project. The story of the Shrewsbury Pickets is not only fascinating on so many levels it is of particular interest to the trade union and labour movement. It is a project that are very likely to support, and most of the trade unions have supported the project through various levels of funding or marketing which has been extremely encouraging. There is further interest from venues and audiences alike that have seen and followed our previous productions, as well as those who have been drawn to the project by our connection and support from the Shrewsbury 24 Campaign and from Ricky Tomlinson, one of the jailed pickets who turned to acting because he could no longer work in the building trade.

This time we have been able to successfully apply to the Arts Council for a project grant to help mount this project too, which has been a very welcome development in the life of our small theatre company. As well as the production side of preparation, there has been a long period of research into the history behind the period of the 1970s – the industrial relations of the time, the building industry, the builders' strike and the case of the Shrewsbury pickets and trials. All of this entailed long sessions in the British Library and the BFI going through newspapers, journals, music archives and film footage and drama scripts from the period. It has been fascinating, exciting and very educational too.

Another exciting innovative aspect of this production is the inclusion of a touring exhibition that carries further information about the history and the in-depth stories behind the case of the Shrewsbury 24.

United We Stand tours the UK from 19 September, taking in Leighton Buzzard, Bedford, Liverpool and Glasgow. For full tour dates, click here.