A new play about the pioneering ILPers, Alfred and Ada Salter, will get its first hearing at London’s Cockpit Theatre on Monday 13 October.
‘Politic Man’ by Alison Mead tells the story of the Salters, whose ‘Bermondsey Revolution’ transformed social and economic conditions in an impoverished corner of south-east London between the wars.
A 15-minute extract from Mead’s play will be performed at the Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone as part of a monthly event called Theatre in the Pound which showcases new writing and charges audiences just £1 for entry.
Mead is hoping the extract will spark interest in producers who will then want to take the play into full production.
The Salters’ story is an almost forgotten gem of Labour history, telling how the brilliant doctor, Alf Salter (left), and his campaigning wife, Ada, dedicated their lives to the people of Bermondsey, a slum area overrun by squalor and disease.
Alf introduced a free local health service for the poor long before there was a national health service, while Ada campaigned to improve housing and the environment, building gardens as part of a local ‘beautifcation’ programme.
The Theatre in the Pound performances start at 7pm. More details here.
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More information about Alison Mead is here.
Graham Taylor’s profiles of Alf Salter is here, and Ada’s story is here.
