Bleak, Brilliant And Beautifully Acted – Boys From The Blackstuff At The Royal Court
In the lead-up to the new stage adaptation of Boys from the Blackstuff, Alan Bleasdale’s said: “Things haven’t changed, it was unemployment then and people signing on…the dreadful thing is bad things are still happening to the same people. Is the quality of life for people like us from where we come from not important?”
Writer James Graham, known for hit TV drama Sherwood, about the long consequences of the 1984 miners’ strike, has collaborated with Bleasdale to adapt skilfully the original five-part TV series, as well as the original story, The Blackstuff, while weaving in a long view of Liverpool’s history.
More than 40 years on, this seminal drama on economic desperation in 1980s Liverpool has lost none of its power, not least because wealth inequality, job security and a cost of living crisis are still with us today. As such, this play feels as much a commentary on the present day as the TV shows were on Thatcher’s Britain.
Directed with great aplomb by Kate Wasserberg, this Liverpool literary gem about a group of struggling road layers pursued by “sniffers” from the local Department of Employment office, is fantastic. It retains the interplay between comedy and tragedy of the original series and is underpinned by powerful and moving performances from a terrific cast and an impressively adaptable set – from dockyard to dole office – by Amy Jane Cook.
There were big acting boots to fill here – the TV show created enduring careers for the original cast. Barry Sloan has taken on the not inconsiderable mantel of playing Yosser Hughes. It’s a performance full of pathos and brimming anger every bit as good as Bernard Hill’s famous original portrayal of a menacing but profoundly disturbed man on the edge.
And while there are laugh out loud moments of levity and bleak farce, everyone in Boys from the Blackstuff suffers. This also applies to the audience who not only witness the anguish but live it, such is the viscerally powerful quality of the acting, from the devastating domestic distress of Chrissie and Angie Todd, played by the excellent Nathan McMullen and Lauren O’Neil, to the moving monologues and demise of socialism’s good neighbour George Malone, played by the captivating Andrew Schofield.
All the perfectly cast actors – Mark Womack as ‘Dixie’ Dean, Aron Julius as ‘Loggo’ Logmond, Helen Carter as the DoE’s Miss Sutcliffe, Dominic Carter as Molloy, Oliver Mawdsley as the fraud officer, Donald Moss and George Caple as Snowy Malone – deserve universal acclaim.
The TV series won a Bafta for best drama series in 1983, and in 2000 was ranked seventh on a British Film Institute list of the best TV shows ever made. Its theatrical adaptation should be seen beyond Liverpool and enjoy more standing ovations. Like the original, it will have resonance almost everywhere. It’s simply that good, too good for anyone to miss.
Until 28 October. Tickets: Royal Court Theatre | Liverpool’s Royal Court (liverpoolsroyalcourt.com) 0151 709 4321.
Jonathan Caswell
