Interview with Charlaina Thompson

Family history has an extraordinary way of shaping the stories we choose to tell, and DUST feels like a production born from both personal memory and a deep sense of responsibility. Ahead of bringing the show to this year's Edinburgh Fringe, I caught up with writer and director Charlaina and performer Craig McArdle to discuss the real-life events that inspired the play, preserving the legacy of Yorkshire's mining communities, and why stories rooted in one family's experience can ultimately speak to us all.

I’d love to start at the beginning. What first inspired me to tell the story of the Lofthouse Colliery disaster, and why did you feel now was the right time to bring it to the stage?

The inspiration for DUST began with a funeral.

In 2023, I returned to Yorkshire after my beloved aunt passed away. After losing my mother to cervical cancer when I was 12, my aunt became one of the most important people in my life. Returning home after so many years made me realise how quickly family stories disappear if we don't ask the questions while we still can.

That journey led me to discover extraordinary parts of my own family's history, including my great-grandfather being awarded the Edward Medal, later converted to the George Cross for bravery following a rescue at Askern Colliery. It reconnected me with my Yorkshire roots and the mining heritage that had shaped generations of my family.

Around the same time, I began sharing family stories with actor Craig McArdle, whom I'd known for many years. We discovered that his grandfather had narrowly escaped the 1973 Lofthouse Colliery disaster. Suddenly, our separate family histories became one shared story.

That's when I knew DUST wasn't simply a play about a mining disaster. It was about the people behind the headlines, the families, the communities, the humour, resilience and love that carried them through unimaginable hardship.

At its heart, DUST is a love letter to Yorkshire, to our mining ancestors, and to every family story that deserves to be remembered before it's too late.

This story is deeply personal because of your own family connection. How did that influence the way you approached writing the production?

Most importantly I wanted to ensure the work was respectful, as accurate as possible and paid tribute to the legacy of the miners. Although it appears that the story is about Craig’s grandfather there are many moments that connect to my own ancestry and my great grandfather, grandfather and cousin. I really tapped into my own memories, family history, letters and documents to gain a deeper understanding of their life.

📷 Marie Pier Labelle

Research clearly plays a huge part in a piece like this. What was the most emotional or unexpected discovery you made during that process?

That my great grandfather was awarded the George Cross for Bravery in 1940 saving a man's life alongside three other brave comrades and that Craig and his father bonded over memories and histories that they had never spoken of until we embarked on the development of this play.

Mining communities have such a rich history and culture. What was most important for you to capture beyond the tragedy itself?

The tragedy is only one chapter of the story.

What I wanted to capture was the humour, heart and soul of the communities that existed around it. The warmth of Yorkshire, the resilience of working-class families, and the extraordinary ability to find laughter even in life's darkest moments.

I was once asked to describe DUST in three words, and my answer was simple: "A love story."

It's a love story about home. About family. About heritage. Because long after the headlines fade, that's what endures—and that's what I wanted audiences to take home with them.

I have written and mapped out a decalogue of work for DUST spanning 100 years. ( It starts with Part 1 DUST and Part 2 and Part 3 are underway. It is my mission to piece this work together - who knows maybe one day it could be a TV Series - I see it all clearly in my mind how it all connects - it’s a story that needs to be told. 

The show explores grief, resilience and hope. How did you make sure audiences experienced all three rather than leaving with only sadness?

Audiences have commented that they were surprised by the humour and warmth woven throughout the play. Despite its darkness and despair, there is always laughter and light. That is life.

The play is held together by the Ten Northern Commandments. These are drawn from my own memories and experiences growing up. They are part of my DNA and, in many ways, define what it felt like to grow up in Yorkshire.

They also reflect my own journey. I lost my mother at the age of 12, entered foster care, experienced homelessness, and ultimately built a life of my own. Throughout those difficult years, these values became my moral compass. They gave me resilience, hope, and the belief that, no matter how hard life became, there would always be another day.

Music plays an important role in the production. At what point did you realise music could help tell the story in ways that dialogue alone couldn’t?

Music is a huge inspiration in everything I do and write. It connects me deeply with the past, time, place and space. I have written many plays where music has been the catalyst to create the mood and scene. As a director, I admire the work of theatre greats such as Scott Graham Frantic Assembly - to work with him would be a dream collaboration - That seamless integration of physical theatre movement and music that tells a story without words is so powerful. 

The original music for DUST was quite different, but I decided to write an original score with my James OBorn and Tim Bos. I am really pleased with the development and collaboration that we will premiere here in Edinburgh - Some tracks are deeply moving and soulful - others are tongue and cheek and capture the essence of the time and place. As the play spans over 70 years it helps support that transition effortlessly through time. 

We are saddened that there are a few tracks we had to let go of due to restrictions on performance rights - however, one day we might be able to give them a resurgence - If a bigger budget allows. 

If someone knows nothing about the Lofthouse disaster before walking into the theatre, what do I hope they’ll take away from learning about it?

That everyday men risked their lives underground. Of the seven men who lost their lives underground, only one man’s body was recovered and buried - The 6 other men still remain in the deepest graves in Wakefield. There is a line in the play ‘Their lives were a daily lottery’, and my great-grandfather knew that only too well as he saved a man’s life in 1940 pit disaster in Askern Colliery and was awarded the Edward Medal - later converted to The George Cross for bravery. 

To me - every miner was brave - they lived their lives in darkness so we could live in the light. Although the play is about one man - the play is about every man who fights to survive. 

As both writer/director Charlaina and performer Craig , how different is it telling a story that means so much personally compared with performing someone else’s work?

Deeply! From the moment I started to write - the words just flowed and the memories, the laughter, the tears came with it. 

It opened a Pandora's box for me - Writing this play has deeply changed me in so many ways. It is my first play that I wrote without restriction - It felt raw, honest and real. Once I started writing I couldn’t stop - From start to finish, I wrote the play in 4 weeks, ( whilst working full time ) but I spent every minute I had devoted to getting this down. 

Craig came over every Friday night over those 4 weeks and I would read him short snippets of scenes - then we would both laugh and cry together. 

I filmed the first script read and its strange to look back now - all the blood sweat and tears we have poured into the show - but ultimately I am so incredibly proud of what we and the show have achieved, the awards, the warmth and connection to our audiences, the sense of community and comradery we have built.

It has really been a defining moment and turning point in my life and I think Craig would say the same too.

📷 Marie Pier Labelle

Were there moments where you had to step back emotionally while creating the piece, or did those emotions ultimately make the production stronger?

ABSOLUTELY! YES to both!

It has been an emotional rollercoaster - It has brought a father and son closer together. It sent me on a deep dive into my personal history with a sadness in many ways that my family have now passed and I still have so many unanswered questions - This is why I am on such a mission to capture as many as possible before they are lost. 

There were many difficult points in the journey to get this show home to the UK - our ultimate goal would be to take it on a Yorkshire Tour. However, through the difficulty - the struggles with finances, funding, fatigue - It was that personal connection that kept me/us going. The play is no longer about us - it is about the important legacy that DUST represents - That is to keep the memories of the miners alive. 

Theatre has an incredible ability to preserve stories for future generations. Why do you think productions like DUST remain so important today?

They are not just important, they are vital.

Creating DUST has made me realise how many questions I never asked the people I loved. We always assume there will be more time, that one day we'll sit down, ask about their lives, and listen to the stories that shaped them. But too often, that moment comes when it is already too late.

Theatre has the power to preserve those stories before they disappear. It gives a voice to ordinary people whose lives might otherwise be forgotten and reminds us that every family carries a history worth telling. Once those stories are lost, we can never truly recover them. If DUST encourages just one person to sit down with a parent, grandparent, or loved one and ask, "Tell me your story," then it has achieved something far greater than simply entertaining an audience.

What has this project taught you, not just as a theatre-maker, but as a person?

It has taught me to ask questions, to stay curious, and to value the stories that have shaped who I am. More than anything, it has deepened my respect for my heritage. I am incredibly proud to come from Yorkshire and proud of my mining ancestry. Writing DUST became a journey of understanding where I come from and why those roots still matter today.

As a theatre-maker, it taught me something equally important: to stop writing for everyone else and start writing for myself. I didn't write DUST because I thought it would be fashionable, topical, or tick the right boxes. I wrote the play I wanted to see - a story that was raw, honest, and unapologetically vulnerable.

My only ambition was to create something that could make an audience laugh one moment and cry the next, because that's what real life does. Life is rarely one emotion; it's messy, contradictory, heartbreaking, and funny often all at once.

Above all, DUST has taught me to trust my instincts. To listen to that quiet inner voice, write what I know, and let go of the fear of what other people might think. I believe that when you write with honesty rather than expectation, that's when your work has the greatest chance of connecting with people.

If you could invite audiences to take away one message beyond the history itself, what would it be?

At its heart, DUST is a love story.

It's easy to call it a mining play or a story about loss, but for me, it has always been about love. Love is what keeps us going when everything else falls apart. It is the thread that runs through every moment of the play.

The wedding vows are repeated throughout DUST, and with each repetition they carry greater weight. As we grow older, we begin to understand that those words are not just spoken on a wedding day—they are promises tested over a lifetime. Love isn't measured in the good times; it's revealed in the hardest ones.

That is what DUST is really about. The extraordinary strength found in ordinary love, and the quiet promise to keep showing up for the people who matter most.

“For richer, … For poorer … , in sickness  …and  … coughs”

Finally, if I had one minute to convince someone to see DUST at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, what would I say?

People often think DUST is a play about mining. It is. But it's also a play about every family that's ever loved, lost, laughed, and carried on. Coal is simply the backdrop. Humanity is the story. Whether you grew up in Yorkshire, Sydney, New York, or Seoul, you'll recognise these people. They're your grandparents, your parents, your neighbours. Their jobs may be different, but their hopes, fears, humour, and love are the same. DUST celebrates the people history rarely writes about—the ordinary men and women whose lives built communities, raised families, and quietly changed the world.

If you come to DUST, I can't promise you'll leave without tears. I can't promise you won't laugh until your face hurts.  But I can promise you'll leave thinking about the people who shaped your own life. Because the more specific a story becomes, the more universal it is. And that's why DUST belongs at the Edinburgh Fringe.

A huge thank you to Charlaina and Craig for taking the time to chat with me about DUST. Their passion for honouring the lives, resilience and humanity of mining communities shines through every aspect of the production, making this far more than a play about a historical disaster. DUST is at Bunker One, Pleasance Courtyard from 5 – 30 Aug (not 12, 18 or 25) at 14:10. Ticket information here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/dust