The Permanent Way, The Vaults

Sixteen years since it premiered, David Hare's The Permanent Way roars back to life in the underground tunnels of The Vaults Theatre.

A new site-specific production invites the next generation to look back at the chaos and class barriers that came with privatising Britain's railways. The subterranean performance space, where you can feel vibrations from trains in Waterloo station above, lends itself well to a story shaped around rail travel. Rising star director Alexander Lass helms the play's first revival since it opened in York in 2003 then toured the UK before transferring to the National Theatre.

The story of privitisation and profit is just as timely over a decade later. David Hare and former director of Out of Joint Theatre Max Stafford-Clark created the play after interviewing people involved, from passengers to policy-makers. Compiled from these verbatim accounts, The Permanent Way captures a time in history with documentary precision.

It tells a story of greed and disaster, mismanagement and mishap, inviting audiences to scrutinise recent history and consider who should take responsibility.

Speaking in response to the revival of The Permanent Way, David Hare said: 'In 2004 feelings were still very raw from the loss of so many lives in the crashes which followed privatisation of the railways. It will be fascinating to find a perspective on that mix of government incompetence and private greed today.'


Click here to book tickets for The Permanent Way at The Vaults