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MARY BARTON is a new play, an adaptation by playwright Rona Munro of the novel of the same
name, written by Elizabeth Gaskell in 1848. The play – like the novel – is set in Manchester in the
1840s, a period of great industrial change and unrest as well as extreme poverty. The story depicts
the effect of economic and physical hardship on the City’s working class community. It is also a
story of love. At its centre is Mary Barton. The daughter of a factory-worker, Mary works making
dresses for the newly moneyed mill-owners but, in some ways, aspires to join their class.
As she strives to better herself, Mary threatens to betray her childhood friend Jem and
finds herself caught up in violent class conflict. A brutal murder
finally forces her to confront her true feelings
and allegiances…
INTRODUCING MARY BARTON :
Create a diagram showing
Who’s Who in MARY
BARTON. On a blank page,
place Mary in the centre,
then place the other characters in
relation to Mary and to each other.
Draw lines linking them, with notes
describing each connection.
After watching the play look back at
your creation. Do you want to move
any of the characters?
Are there any links and notes you’d
like to add?
WHO’S WHO IN MARY BARTON?
Look at these brief descriptions of Who’s Who in MARY BARTON. Before you see
the play, think about what you might expect each of them to be like and
how you think they may fit into the story. You might want to draw sketches
or write descriptions of each.
Mary Barton is the title character and the play’s
heroine. Her mother died in childbirth when she
was a young girl and her father, a mill worker,
has raised her.
Jane Wilson is Jem’s mother and is
married to George. They have infant
twins.
Margaret is Mary’s friend and neighbour.
John Barton is Mary’s father. He is a Mill worker
and Trade Unionist. He believes passionately in
the rights of the workers to better conditions.
Esther is Mary’s Aunt; she is Mary’s
mother’s sister. Esther leaves the family
for her lover, promising Mary she
will send for her.
Tom Barton is Mary’s younger
brother. The play opens after
his death, in childhood, from
starvation.
Jem Wilson is a childhood
friend of Mary. He is a
Blacksmith. He loves
Mary and wants to
marry her, and give
her ‘a decent life.’
George Wilson is
Jem’s father and is
married to Jane.
He is John Barton’s
friend, and works
with him in the
mill. George does
not believe in the
need for Unions.
COSTUME SKETCHES & IDEAS FOR JOHN BARTON
Job is Margaret’s elderly grandfather.
Will is Jem’s cousin and a sailor. When we
are first introduced to him he has just
returned from sea.
Harry Carson is the son of one of the
mill owners. He meets Mary at the
Dressmakers, and is attracted
to her.
Carson is Harry’s father, a wealthy mill
owner. John Barton and George Wilson
work in his mill.
Helen and Sophy Carson are Harry’s
sisters.
Jack is Harry Carson’s friend.
Miss Simmonds is a local dressmaker
who employs Mary.
Sally works with Mary at Miss Simmond’s
Dressmakers.
Slater is a union representative.
After watching the play,
think about whether the
characters surprised
you, or lived up to your
expectations.
When you
watch
MARY
BARTON,
choose a character to
follow through the
play and make notes
of the specific things
they do in the play
that help to reveal
their character. Look at
what they wear, how
they speak, what they
eat and their body
language.
DOUBLING: THE TWO WORLDS
OF EVERY ACTOR
In MARY BARTON all the actors play more than one part, except for John
and Mary Barton. Sarah Frankcom, the Director, explains “When I was
talking with Rona about the adaptation I realised every actor would have to
play a double (i.e. two parts). Rona and I thought it would be interesting for
everyone to play a working character and a moneyed character. The only
exceptions to this are Mary Barton and her father John. This provides, we
hope, an interesting layer to the play’s exploration of the conflict between
these two worlds. It also means that the actors have to play at least two very
different characters and reflect two or more very different worlds equally.”
As you watch the play, look out for who doubles as who and think
about possible reasons for the doublings. Why, for example might
Carson also play George Wilson, or Margaret one of Harry’s sisters?
Elizabeth
Gaskell
originally
intended for
‘John Barton’ to be the
title of her novel. After
watching the play, think
about how the story may
have been different if we
saw it all through his eyes.
Try writing his version of
events. You could try this
for other characters too.
What might Jem’s story
be, or Will’s?
THE WORLDS OF THE CHARACTERS
CHARACTER CLOSE UPS
Have a look at these passages describing characters in the novel:
“He was a little wiry-looking old man, who moved with a jerking
motion, as if his limbs were worked by a string like a child’s toy…
The eyes absolutely gleamed with intelligence, so keen, so
observant, you felt as if they were almost wizard-like”.
Job
“She was a sallow, unhealthy, sweet-looking young woman
with a care worn look; her dress was humble and very simple.”
Margaret
How might you expect these characters to be brought to life on
stage? In a play a character can be presented in many different
ways…
How the character speaks and moves
The way that a character speaks and moves can be just as
important as what they actually say. For example, do they
use flowery descriptions or get straight to the point? Do
they stutter or pause a lot? Do they like long, complicated
words? What’s their accent? How do they move? All these
things can help to create an impression of a character.
Choose one of the characters and
imagine how they might speak and
move. Try to write a short monologue where
they are telling the story of Cinderella. Use this
to focus on the way the character speaks and
uses their body, rather than the story itself.
What the character wears
Think about how, when you meet someone,
what they are wearing influences our
impressions of them. Designer Liz Ascroft
explains about the costume choices for MARY
BARTON: “The working characters become the
colour of the stone that they’re stood on. They
become the colour of the cloth and of the work
that they do. It’s as if they are drawing colour
from the ground. The Mill owners and other
wealthy characters wear shoes - shiny black
shoes that protect them from the dirt. They
are all dressed in crisp white shirts. These
characters are clean and they have colour.”
Look at the costume designs
throughout this booklet. Make a list of
the clues each costume gives you to the
character’s life or personality.
MARGARET AND
HELEN CARSON
The Character’s World
The place in which we see each character and the objects they
have might also show us something about them. Sarah Frankcom
comments, “The most important thing is always that every actor
is working with the specific. During rehearsals, for each of their
characters they will be building a mental picture of where they live,
work, eat (or don’t eat!), and a very detailed emotional history - a
back story for each character they are playing. If, on stage, an
actor is being non-specific about anything, the audience will
always pick up on it and not believe in the world of the play, so, for
me, the thing of being specific and of the actors really knowing
their characters, is essential.”
Write a description of what you might expect a room in
the house of each of the characters to look
like. What objects might they own? How do you think
a theatre designer might be able to
capture this?
“Adapting MARY BARTON has been a long process.
Adapting the novel of a writer who you can’t talk to comes
with a burden of responsibility, which was initially
intimidating. I read a lot about Elizabeth Gaskell and her life
and I also thought a lot about how, as a writer, I would
want my words to be represented in another century. You
start off being very reverential, but you have to put that
aside. I came to think of Elizabeth Gaskell as a kind of
friendly, excited ghost. It might seem romantic, but from
what I know about her, I think everything that was
important to her in the 1840s is still important today and is
still relevant to say again. Hopefully the fact that someone
is still raising those issues would have delighted Elizabeth.”
STAGING
Rona Munro, Adapter of MARY BARTON
ADAPTING FOR THEATRE
The process of adapting a novel for theatre
is not nearly as simple as copying out the
dialogue and turning it into a script. When a
writer adapts a book, she has to make many
decisions about how to tell the story as a
drama, and in so doing solve any number of
problems. For example, most plays do not
have a narrator whereas many novels do, or
at least are told from one point of view. Plays
unfold in the present, whereas novels often
take place in the past tense. Novels, unlike
dramas, often include long passages of
description. MARY BARTON certainly does.
Just look at Elizabeth Gaskell’s opening
sentences:
Rona Munro has chosen to open the play
version of MARY BARTON like this:
“There are some fields near Manchester,
well known to the inhabitants as ‘Green
Heys Fields’, through which runs a
public footpath to a little village about
two miles distant. In spite of these fields
being flat, and low, nay, in spite of the
want of wood (the great and usual
recommendation of level tracts of land),
there is a charm about them which
strikes even the inhabitant of a
mountainous district, who sees and feels
the effect of contrast in these commonplace but thoroughly rural fields, with
the busy, bustling manufacturing town
he left but half an hour ago.”
JOHN nods without speaking. MARY
runs to a fresh grave nearby. She kneels
beside it.
This would clearly not work as the opening
of a play…..
Try making your own list of the
differences between PLAYS and
STORIES. There are quite a few!
Look again at the opening of
Elizabeth Gaskell’s MARY BARTON
(above) and think about how you might use
it if you were adapting the book for the
stage. Would you simply ignore it? Or is the
world of the story too
important to just cut
out? Are there other
ways a writer might
suggest that the setting
and place of the novel
is communicated to a
theatre audience?
THE GRAVEYARD
A poor funeral. A small coffin is
carried in and lowered into the ground.
Following it are MARY (aged 13),
ESTHER and JOHN. They watch the
coffin vanish into the ground. The
grave is filled in. MARY, ESTHER and
JOHN stand watching. After a moment
MARY tugs at her father’s arm.
MARY: Father? Father, can I go to
mother?
MARY: Mother? Tom’s come to be with
you and the baby. He’s right beside you.
The things that happen in the
scene above also occur in the novel
– Rona Munro has not just made them up.
But why do you think she has chosen to
begin the play in this way? What does this
opening show us and what does it make us
wonder about?
Some scenes of the play are quite
similar to the novel. Take a really
close look at the following short excerpts
(on the right) where Mary and her friend
Margaret are sewing together after
Margaret has arrived at Mary’s door and
asked for her help to complete a sewing job
she is behind with. Make notes on the
differences and similarities between the two
extracts. Think about why the playwright has
made the changes she has made to the
dialogue, why she uses fewer words than
Elizabeth Gaskell uses in the novel, and how
bringing the scene to life on stage will
convey some of what must, in the novel, be
given as description (Think
about the actors, the
design, the lighting and
sound….and how they
each contribute to the
meaning of the scene).
THE NOVEL…
‘Mary, do you know I sometimes
think I’m growing a little blind,
and then what would become of
grandfather and me? Oh, God
help me, Lord help me!’
She fell into an agony of tears,
while Mary knelt by her, striving
to soothe and to comfort her; but,
like an inexperienced person,
striving rather to deny the
correctness of Margaret’s fear,
than helping her to meet and
overcome the evil.
‘No’, said Margaret, quietly fixing
her tearful eyes on Mary; ‘I know
I’m not mistaken. I have felt one
going some time, long before I
ever thought what it would lead
to; and last autumn I went to a
doctor; and he did not mince the
matter, but said unless I sat in a
darkened room,with my hands
before me, my sight would not
last me many years longer. But
how could I do that, Mary? For
one thing, grandfather would
have known there was somewhat
the matter; and, oh! it will grieve
him sore whenever he’s told, so
the later the better; and besides,
Mary, we’ve sometimes little
enough to go upon, and what I
earn is a great help. For
grandfather takes a day here, and
a day there, for botanising or
going after insects, and he’ll think
little enough of four or five
shillings for a specimen….
THE PLAY…
MARY: Margaret, what is it?
MARGARET: I went to the
doctors…
MARY: Well what did he say?
MARGARET: He said I should sit
in a darkened room with my
hands still in my lap for six hours
a day or make up my mind to go
completely blind.
MARY: You shouldn’t be working
then.
MARGARET: (concentrating on
her sewing) Well if God means me
to go blind I will. I can’t stop
working. (laughs). Grandfather
must have his plants and insects.
He’s written of in scientific
journals Mary. And he’ll spend
four, five shillings on butterflies
and scorpions and dead pressed
flowers… But I’m so proud of him.
COMPOSING FOR THEATRE: SOUNDBITES
FROM COMPOSER OLLY FOX
THE PLAY
“I hope the songs in the play might become central motifs in the music. I have
researched song material from the period. However, I shan’t try to ‘copy’ mid 19th
century music, instead I will try to capture a flavour of it – the popular, folk idiom
more than classical. Music will be used to heighten the drama, ‘glue’ scenes
together, locate characters and places, give a sense of time and period, but most
importantly to give this production a strong musical identity.”
INTERVIEW WITH
DIRECTOR SARAH
FRANKCOM
“Music will reflect themes of the play - themes of young love, dashed hopes,
experiences of poverty, mortality... It’s hard to explain how, when the music,
Why did you want to direct MARY BARTON?
hopefully, will do it more eloquently.”
“First, because it’s a great story. Also, I’ve
become more and more interested in the
“In the Royal Exchange space you can play with real distance and the natural
building that the Royal Exchange Theatre is a
reverb of the space outside the module, which is fun and can be very effective. If
part of, and what that meant and means now to
it’s there you might as well use it!”
the city of Manchester. The story is one of the
first pieces of literature that sympathetically
represented the working class and their struggle
Olly Fox has composed brand new, original music to accompany this
with economic hardship. The more I found out
production at the Royal Exchange – but imagine you are staging your
about Mrs Gaskell, who wrote it, the more
own version without the budget for a composer! Why not produce
extraordinary it seemed that she was brave
a soundtrack of music written since 2000 to accompany a modern
enough to write the story at the time she did (in
re-telling of
1848). A number of the people she was
some of MARY
attacking were members of her husband’s
BARTON’s
congregation at the Unitarian Chapel (over the
themes?
road from the Royal Exchange). The adaptation
that Rona Munro has written appealed to my
sensibility as a director. It’s very simple but fluid storytelling
and all the characters have a psychological complexity.”
What are the challenges of directing MARY BARTON
in the round?
“A project like this is a really exciting challenge! It moves
through many locations from Mary’s house, to the dress shop,
to the mill, to the docks, to a graveyard… The challenge is to
create an environment where all those places can be realised
whilst keeping the fluidity of the writing alive. The brilliant
thing about the round – especially this space – is that the
actors’/characters’ primary relationship is with other
actors/characters in the space rather than to a piece of scenery.
It’s a space that also encourages the audience to use their
imaginations. The job of the Director, Designer, Composer,
Lighting and Sound Designers, is to provide very particular
stimuli to enable this.”
Director Sarah Frankcom talks of the
challenge of staging multi-locations. Other
than giving a sense of setting, what else does a
location add to a scene? Next time you are watching
your favourite ‘soap’, why not count the number of
locations in one episode. Does this number vary from
episode to episode? What impact does it have on the
telling of the story?
GEORGE WILSON
AND HARRY CARSON
THE SET DESIGN: NOTES FROM DESIGNER LIZ ASCROFT
“The floor is made of gravestones. The stones are all arranged facing inwards, as if vying for attention at the centre of the stage. They are
cast from real gravestones, so that all the inscriptions and every tiny fault or detail in the stone is real. As you read the stones, you get
drawn into the stories of the people buried there – the stones are there occasionally as a real and specific detail to the storytelling, as well
as a visual metaphor for how the play works as a whole. The actors walk barefoot on the gravestones – they are close to them. The stones
are a reminder of the way that death and its consequences are present every day in these character’s lives. They live on and in and with
these stones all the time. There is no gravestone in the centre of the stage. There is just dry compacted earth. It might be a similar colour
as the stones around it, but you’ll be able to put your hand in it. It symbolises that the story is yet to be completed.”
“The coffins that the actors carry become part of the set, part of their household. Everything that the families own are stored inside these
boxes. We’re attempting to create the feeling that, for these families, death never goes away. They aren’t comfortable with death, but they
have almost become comfortable living around death, because it’s a way of life. They’ve grown up being very aware of death.”
Create a design for your own favourite play. Think about how Liz’s design keeps the theme of death present in the minds of
the characters and audience. What would you say is a central theme of your chosen play? How might you reflect that theme
in a design for the piece?
1840s
MANCHESTER
SONG
This traditional song explains
why, in the author’s opinion, the
‘rich man’ can never know how a
‘poor man’ feels. It goes on to list
some of the hardships of the working
person in 1840’s Manchester.
MARY BARTON’S
How little can the rich man know
Of what the poor man feels,
When Want, like some dark demon foe,
Nearer and nearer steals!
MANCHESTER AND COTTON
MARY BARTON was written at the height of the industrial revolution when Lancashire
was the powerhouse of the country’s wealth and production. In 1835 – eight years
before the novel was written – an estimated 70% of the county’s male population
was engaged in the production or sale of cotton textiles. This was a time when
cotton was king! It was shipped from around the world, into Liverpool and up
the Manchester shipping canal where it was sent for production into the
many mills around Manchester. There was more manufacturing of cotton
going on in Oldham alone than in the whole of France and Germany put
together. And where was the trading centre for this multi-million pound
industry? Right here in the Royal Exchange building! This Great Hall was
the very symbol of power and money generated by the cotton industry.
There would have been thousands of men trading, buying and selling
cotton and becoming very rich in the process.
He never tramp’d the weary round,
A stroke of work to gain.
And sicken’d at the dreaded sound
Which tells he seeks in vain.
Foot-sore, heart-sore, he never came
Back through the winter’s wind.
To a dark cellar, there no flame,
No light, no food to find.
He never saw his darlings lie
Shivering, the flags their bed.
He never heard that maddening cry,
“Daddy, a bit of bread”.
Take a look at the novel of
MARY BARTON. You’ll see that
each chapter begins with a song or
poem extract that relates to the story
and its themes. Decide what these songs
and poems are saying, and why Elizabeth
Gaskell included them in her story. What
do they add to the reader’s
understanding of the story?
However, set against this wealth, the mill workers were living in terrible
conditions. Children as young as 7 were made to clean the fluff and dirt
from beneath machinery. Because they were small, they could dart in
and out of the fast moving weaving machines, but accidents were
common – the children were often caught in the machines and lost
limbs, or were crushed completely. A huge percentage of the workers
were aged between 11 and 16, which means, if you had been born just over
a hundred years ago in Manchester, this would probably have been your life.
You would have felt owned by the factories.
Many older girls and women would have sought employment in
‘piecework’ – they would have been paid according to the quantity of
the work produced. They found employment in boom industries such
as dressmaking. In the play both Mary and Margaret work as
seamstresses. Just as with millwork, the young seamstresses would have
worked long hours for little pay. In fact, during a conversation with
Margaret, Mary mentions that she doesn’t get paid at all! “I don’t have a wage yet. I’m
still paying off my apprenticeship”. As you can imagine, the long hours in cold rooms with
little light often led to serious health problems. Even when warned by the doctors, Margaret
says, “If God means me to go blind I will. I can’t stop working”.
Despite the power of the cotton industry, at various times during the first half of the nineteenth
century, the cotton supplies dried up, workers were laid off and many people starved to death.
These terrible conditions led to conflict and, in time, a series of working class movements were
born. They were aimed at improving factory conditions, wages, working standards and general
standards of living for the working classes.
Mrs Gaskell was acutely aware of the politics
surrounding her as she wrote MARY BARTON.
The story centres on this time of conflict and
the novel shows great sympathy with the
workers. Mrs. Gaskell, and many others,
became involved in a large movement of
people who campaigned to
change the working conditions,
give rights to working people and
raise the working age. Her story is
therefore not just well crafted
entertainment, but can also be
seen as an important social
history, reflecting a time before
people had many of the rights
that we enjoy today.
JEM WILSON
Visit the Royal Exchange
and look closely around the
hall for clues to the building’s history
as the Cotton Exchange.
What might Elizabeth
Gaskell think if she came to
Manchester today? From what you
can discover about her personality
and attitudes, can you imagine what
she might like or dislike about
modern Manchester? Write a letter or
monologue from her perspective.
MANCHESTER
JOHN BARTON to Mary (from the play)
“We’ll manage together, lass. And I’ll
fight. There’s orders coming in again.
Even Carson’s Mill is working again.
But they won’t have it their own way
now. We’ll not go through times like
this again. There’s a strike coming,
Mary. The masters may think they
can break us but they’ll learn the
strength of desperate men. It’ll be a
strike till they change their ways.”
“The houses of the operatives are
cluttered together with more regard
for the saving of ground-rent than for
the comfort and health of their
inhabitants. In many districts the
crowding of houses into narrow, dark,
ill-drained and ill-ventilated alleys
and lanes; and the cramming of
persons into these miserable dwellings
is frightful to contemplate.”
The Manchester Times, 1844
HARRY CARSON
“All the Union men,
the Chartists, the
strikers, are barred
from working in any
mill in Manchester.
None of you will
work in our mills
ever again.”
THE POLITICS OF MARY BARTON
Two of the most important movements, central to Manchester at the time the play is set,
are CHARTISM and TRADE UNIONISM.
Trade Unions are organizations that protect – or fight to protect – workers’ rights.
They do so by enabling individuals to join forces and make a collective response or
argument, which is usually more powerful than individuals trying to
stand up for themselves against their employers. The withdrawal of
labour or “strike action” is just one way in which unions have
brought pressure on employers to improve conditions. In MARY
BARTON, the supply of cotton to the mills is disrupted and work
runs dry; the workers are dying of starvation. John Barton joins a
protest march, and one scene of the play also shows the angry
conflict that erupts between the mill owners and the desperate
workforce.
Chartism was a movement in England which attempted to better
the working and living conditions of the working classes. The
Chartists demanded (1) universal manhood suffrage (2) vote by
ballot (3) equal electoral districts (4) annual parliaments (5)
payment of members and (6) the abolition of their property
qualifications. The movement was the first mass organization of the
industrial working class and had a huge influence on the evolution
of socialist ideas in England.
Manchester was central to the development of Chartism. The first Chartist rally took place
here on 25 September 1838 when a crowd estimated by the “Leeds Times” at
250,000 people gathered on Kersal Moor to elect delegates to the first Chartist
convention. Two years later the first National Charter Association was founded at a
Chartist conference held in Manchester.
Interestingly, almost all of the demands the Chartists made, which at the time were
seen as outrageous and un-workable, are now in place.
Stage a rally by the Trade Unionists, with Union leaders trying to gain support for
a National Union. What arguments might they use to gather the workers and why
might some be reluctant to join them?
Research the history of the Trade Unions from their beginnings to the present
day. In what ways has their role in society changed over time? Can you find
modern equivalents to the difficulties John Barton and workers like him may have faced?
Put Carson on trial. What might the charges be? Who would speak as witnesses
for the prosecution and what stories would they tell? How might the defence
justify Carson’s actions? Both the prosecution and defence will need to use historical
research and references to the play to build a case.
MARY BARTON
JOHN BARTON
“Oh aya. Trade is bad.
But when was the last
time trade was so bad
the masters went
without bread? The
strike will hold.”
AND WHY NOT…?
Follow in the footsteps of the Creative Team and Acting Company
of MARY BARTON. Writers, Directors, Designers, Composers and
Actors often find it helpful to explore the background of places,
times in history and true characters on whom a play may be
based. Here are some of our team’s recommendations for further
research into the world of MARY BARTON.
NOVELS AND PLAYS
TO READ
Mary Barton
by Elizabeth Gaskell
Please contact each venue before visiting,
as some have restricted opening hours.
84 Plymouth Grove, Manchester M13
Home of Elizabeth Gaskell from 1850-65,
now maintained by the Gaskell Society;
Tel: 01663 744233
North and South
by Elizabeth Gaskell
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens
A Taste of Honey
by Shelagh Delaney
The Changing Face of Manchester
published by The Manchester
Evening News
The Condition of the
Working Class of England
by Freidrich Engels
Death in the Victorian Family
by Pat Jalland
The Working Class Movement Library
51 The Crescent, Salford M5
Collections include Trade Union and Working
Class History and Poverty and Unemployment;
Tel: 0161 736 3601, www.wcml.org.uk
The People’s History Museum
103 Princess Street, Manchester M1
National centre for the collection, conservation,
interpretation and study of material relating to
the history of working people in Britain;
Tel: 0161 228 7212, www.phm.org.uk
Quarry Bank Mill and Styal Estate
Quarry Bank Road, Styal SK9
A working cotton Mill and museum of
the textile industry; Tel: 01625 527468,
www.quarrybankmill.org.uk
Karl Marx in Manchester
by Edmund and Ruth Frow
Chartism in Manchester 1838-58
by Edmund and Ruth Frow
Industrial revolution and Social
reform in the Manchester Region
by Malcolm Bee
FILMS AND DVDS
TO WATCH
Twenty Four Hour Party People
Set in the 1980’s this film shows
Manchester at a very different point
in the City’s history.
Shameless, Series 1
What picture of Manchester does
this series paint?
Dockers
This is a dramatised account of the
struggle between sacked Merseyside
dock workers and their employers,
and shows industrial dispute in more
recent times.
Boys from the Blackstuff
In the economic recession of 1982,
this drama looks at the effects of
poverty and unemployment on
Liverpool families. What comparisons
to MARY BARTON can be made?
REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 255424
PLACES TO VISIT
Greater Manchester Police Museum
Newton Street, Manchester M1
With original cells, old uniforms, photographs and
even a reconstruction of a magistrates court from
the Victorian period; Tel: 0161 856 3287,
www.gmp.police.uk/mainsite/pages/history)
NorthWest Film Archive Gallery
47-49 Chorlton Street, Manchester M1
A regional film archive which holds film and
videotape dating from the pioneer days of film to
the present day, including much work and local
industry footage;
Tel: 0161 247 3097, www.nwfa.mmu.ac.uk
Manchester Visitor Information Centre
Town Hall Extension, Manchester M60
Information, including a guided ‘Elizabeth Gaskell’
walk; Tel: 0871 222 8223,
www.manchester.gov.uk/visitorcentre
Ancoats, Manchester M4
A Manchester district containing examples
of mills, associated housing and workhouses.
The Ancoats Buildings Preservation Trust have
produced a resource for students including a trail of
the Ancoats area – for further information contact
Jennifer Gosling on 0161 278 1755 or email
[email protected]
Turner Street, Manchester M4
The location of Harry’s murder. Although this area
has been redeveloped as part of the city’s vibrant
Northern Quarter, if you go down parallel Back
Turner Street, you will find many old buildings
unchanged since the Victorian period.
The work of the Education Department is supported by the Bowland
Foundation, Crabtree North West Charitable Trust, D’Oyly Carte
Charitable Trust, HBOS Foundation, John Thaw Foundation, Mercers,
N M Rothschild, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Think about how
Manchester is perceived
today, and what has influenced the
City’s image. How has the music of
bands like Oasis, the Stone Roses or
the Smiths affected people’s
perceptions of Manchester? What
about TV programmes like Queer as
Folk or Coronation Street or films like
Twenty Four Hour Party People? Try
and find as many programmes, plays,
films or books as you can set in
Manchester (there are some suggestions on this page). Think about what
impression of the City each one gives.
Visit Manchester City Art
Gallery. You will find many
paintings showing Manchester life at
different times. Look out in particular
for works by Adolphe Valette and
Liam Spencer. Valette painted
Manchester in the 1800s – a
Manchester Mrs. Gaskell might
recognise- while Spencer is a modern
artist. What similarities and
differences can you find in the ways
that they portray the City?
Write a story or create a
piece of art or even drama
depicting the place that you are
from. How might you capture the
atmosphere of the place?
Find another example of a
novel that has been
adapted into drama. Read the novel
and then either read or watch the
scripted adaptation. In what ways are
the two versions different? Can you
see why the adapter might have
made certain decisions? What would
you do differently?
United Co-operatives are
delighted to be sponsoring
the production and education
projects for MARY BARTON.
As Your Community Retailer
we place great importance on supporting
young people’s educational opportunities
and we are proud to be working with the
Royal Exchange to offer these.
Edited and produced by Exchange
Education, with contributions from Sarah
Frankcom, Liz Ascroft, Rona Munro and
Olly Fox. With special thanks to Designer
Liz Ascroft and Adaptor Rona Munro
whose costume sketches and script
extracts are reproduced with kind
permission.
For further information call
the Education Department
on 0161 615 6721.
Box Office: 0161 833 9833
Royal Exchange Theatre, St. Ann’s Square,
Manchester M2 7DH
Visit our website
www.royalexchange.co.uk/education for
additional resources.