THE moving story behind a fishing disaster and the strong women who coped with its after-effects is being performed as part of the Tall Ships celebrations.

Get Up and Tie Your Fingers, by award-winning Berwick playwright Ann Coburn, is the first production by a new group of North- East women theatre producers, called The Guild of Lillians.

The production showcases the talents of 50 women across the North-East and focuses on events in 1881 at Eyemouth, when a violent storm claimed the lives of 189 fishermen.

The story looks at how the women cope with their losses and focuses on the strong ties between mother and daughter.

The play has been re-worked to include an original score for women's voices by theatrical composer Karen Wimhurst, who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

The production team has also made contact with modern day women in the fishing industry to record the sound of their voices and working environment as part of the soundscape of the piece.

The play's director, Fiona MacPherson, is a senior lecturer in performing arts at Northumbria University, while two of the production's cast members are Carol McGuigan and Jan Birkett who appeared in the film Billy Elliot - Jan as Billy's mother and Carol as a librarian.

"It's a great drama with some fantastic parts for women," said Carol.

"The language is also very beautiful."

* Get Up and Tie Your Fingers will staged at The Sage, Gateshead tomorrow and Monday. Contact 0191-443 4661 for more details.

Published: 23/07/2005