Boys From The Blackstuff

Garrick Theatre, 19/06/24

Credit: Andrew AB

Final rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

(N.B. I am aware James Graham did not write the original source material of ‘Boys From The Blackstuff’ and is merely the adaptor – but for the purposes of this review he will be referred to as the playwright and therefore the writer.)

Unemployment is rife; the cost of living crisis is soaring, and people are struggling to pay their bills, heat their homes and feed their children. In circumstances not dissimilar to the present, our scene is 1980’s Liverpool – a place particularly hit by what then Chancellor Geoffrey Howe called a ‘managed decline’. The manufacturing sector there had lost 80,000 jobs and unemployment had reached more than 25%. In this play, we see and feel the human impact of that statistic.

Chrissie (Nathan McMullen) and his group of former workmates stand before us in cages – as their names are called out at the dole office. And thus the narrative is immediately set as the men exude deflation and desperation at not being able to find work. And yet, they are working on the sly – being paid pittance on construction sites under callous boss Molloy (Dominic Carter) and enjoying the odd bit of workplace banter amidst the severity of their poor living and working conditions. We see Snowy (George Caple) on a wire – falling down from the top of some scaffolding, and then are taken on the journey as to how he ended up dead.

In the first half of the play, there is a strong narrative driving the action forward at lightening pace – and there is obvious tension among the men, none of whom want to mention the infamous ‘Middlesborough’ incident in front of Dixie (Mark Womack). Immediately there is a sense of intrigue – ‘what happened?’, and the build-up to that is exciting. There are various visits from all the characters to the dole office, facing interview questions from government officials – including Jean (Lauren O’Neil), who is known for her ‘annoying voice’ resulting in a hilarious gag later about her failed elocution lessons.

And there are some brilliant lines too – the repeated ‘giz a job, I could do that’ from Yosser (Barry Sloane) is absolutely perfect, delivered in such a way where by the end the audience are anticipating him to say it and it is hilarious when he does. When he arrives on a construction site claiming to be able to lay bricks, we see him build a conspicuously ‘gappy’ wall that results in his immediate sack. And – as the ‘Boys’ point out – it is hard to sack someone who was never officially working there in first place. A special mention needs to go to Sloane for his portrayal of the character, a ‘hard man’ loose cannon who is deeply troubled and eventually falls apart when he loses his kids (and the whole time he mimes having them because in reality he lost them to social services months ago). But his performance is as scary as it is electrifying and a scene was always lifted whenever he arrived.

As the ‘Boys’ are chased by the dole officers trying to catch them working on the sly, the tense action of the first half culminates in Snowy jumping and committing suicide rather than facing up to the consequences. It was a sobering moment, more so at his funeral where his father, George (Philip Whitchurch), is completely a shell of his former jovial self. The doubling throughout the play is also exciting and entertaining – and the best of all of the cast to do it is Dominic Carter – who, as well as previously mentioned site boss Molloy, plays Gas Man, Catholic Priest, Pub Landlord, ‘Shakehands’, Policeman, and others. His comic timing was impeccable.

But – for all of the fast paced action and humour of the first half, come the second, the play suffered from what I’m terming ‘James Graham syndrome’. I say this because the two other productions of his that I’ve seen (‘Dear England’ and ‘Quiz) also drop off in the second half and end up running out of steam.

Scenes were too long and should have been cut (there’s an entire conversation between Chrissie and George at the docks at the end which really served no real purpose). And it also felt like Graham bit off more than he could chew. Loggo (Aron Julius) – who is one of the ‘Boys’ – simply announces he is going to move away, and we never hear from the character again. If he was that disposable, why was he really included at all? Similarly, there was a totally undeveloped plot line involving Dixie: working as a security guard at the Docks, he allows shipments to be raided by thieves and is given some stolen shoes as compensation. Those thieves then call his family home and threaten to pay his wife a visit. Yet, as the play wraps up, that is never explored or mentioned again, which is a shame as it was quite an exciting idea.

The second half, though, does feature what I think is the best slow-motion fight scene I’ve ever seen. The choreography was simply exquisite – as Yosser fights off Policemen breaking into his house and trying to beat him with batons, he emerges bloody-faced and screaming (but in silence), as he is dragged around in slow-mo to an emotionally driving soundtrack.

In an almost painfully ironic moment at the end, it is revealed that the ‘Boys’ working on the construction site are indeed building the new office for the Department for Employment, the very place that has been hounding and taunting them for months. The play shys away from being political – with no real focus on how the aforementioned ‘managed decline’ (or rather a programme of economic and social vandalism) was enacted by the government of the time. But it instead tells the human stories from those in the heart of the great port of the British Empire – Liverpool, which is the thing the play sets out to do.

Overall – some stand-out acting performances, coupled with a nice industrial-feel set without being overbearing, this production was an excellent look at the unemployment crisis in Liverpool. At times it did feel too long, and it is a shame about some of the stories falling away. But it used humour well to humanise the characters, making their suffering all the more poignant and relatable. ‘Giz a good review lad, gowan, giz it’.