Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky’s In The Print is a brilliant telling of the Wapping Dispute of 1986 that reminds us it’s not the first time the industry has faced technological upheaval.
The play recalls Rupert Murdoch’s News International and its stable of national newspapers pushing to introduce direct copy input by journalists.
At a key-stroke, a layer of the print workforce would no longer be needed and to save on redundancy costs, Murdoch manipulated a walk-out and used scab labour to get his titles printed and distributed.
The dispute lasted over a year; hundreds were arrested and many injured. It is remembered as one of the most bitter episodes in trade union history.
At the centre of events was Brenda Dean the newly elected leader of the biggest print union (SOGAT) and the first woman to lead a major union.
Forensically portrayed by Claudia Jolly, Dean is clever, well organised, pragmatic, dapper and a world away from the hard-core organisers of a previous era.
At only 90 minutes long, perhaps an opportunity was missed to offer more of Dean’s backstory and how she stood out from a less than impressive group of union leaders.
The baddie of the piece is Murdoch (a chilling Alan Cox): self-assured, ruthless, cunning and relishing the treachery.
But there’s a cohort of others whose intransigence contributed to thousands losing their jobs: the militant Fathers of Chapel who refused to accept change, preferring Spanish Practices and, above all, determined to hang on to the power they wielded.
Against the background of Thatcher’s newly introduced anti-union employment laws, the result could only go one way.
In The Print is a well-researched, utterly absorbing piece of high-calibre theatre.
Played out on a spartan stage by an excellent cast, Josh Roche’s direction is focussed and pacey.
The sharp and acerbic script sometimes leans towards the didactic but has its funny moments: mention of Peter Mandelson in particular raised snorts of derision.
In The Print runs at The King’s Head Theatre, Islington until May 3.
