A Spanner in the Works
It’s 1968. The time of Enoch Powell’s “Rivers of Blood” speech, the Turban Dispute in Wolverhampton, and West Bromwich Albion are playing in the FA Cup Final. There’s a broken down bus by the side of the road, the driver is from India and the mechanic, who’s there to fix it, is a local man who served in Burma. It’s a prickly relationship. Will they manage to agree what is wrong with the bus, will they find the missing money, and are they ever going to get this haunted bus back on the road?
Black Country created a new short production called A Spanner in the Works as part of the Black Country Living Museum’s Summer Lates programme in August 2023. It featured 25 performances over 5 Fridays in August and the first week of September.
A Spanner in the Works was based on original research undertaken by Vimal Korpal for Black Country Touring. It was inspired by the stories given to us in interviews with bus drivers and conductors who worked on local buses in the 1960s, and by the events of the time, including the the Wolverhampton bus drivers turban dispute, the Enoch Powell rivers of blood speech and West Bromwich Albion winning the FA cup.
Our two lead performers - Vimal Korpal and Jack Trow - also had strong personal connections to the subject matter. Vimal’s dad moved to the region from Punjab and spent many years driving local buses here, and Jack’s grandad worked in the bus garage for West Bromwich Corporation.
The show was a continuation of our ongoing relationship with the Black Country Living Museum, where we explore together the telling of local stories in and around the museum’s site.
“Well performed, very enjoyable. Brought back memories of the 60s”
“Thank you for representing my family’s history!”
“I didn’t expect it to be so political. I’m glad it was. Issues need to be addressed. Well presented. Well done.”
A Spanner in the Works was presented as a part of Summer Lates at the Black Country Living Museum.
Steve Johnstone - Director
Vimal Korpal - Performer (Sham)
Jack Trow - Performer (Stan)
Ajay Pall - Performer
Amit Persaud - Performer
Anjeela Wakil - Performer
Reena Swali - Performer
Abigail King - Designer
Matt Lloyd - Production Manager
Photographs © Anand Chhabra, 2023.
