Following its debut at Liverpool's Royal Court in 2023 and National Theatre run in 2024, James Graham's stage adaptation of the hit TV series, directed by Kate Wasserberg, docked into Richmond Theatre this week as part of a 20 venue tour and it delivered on every level. This play is two and a half hours of gritty, emotive, nostalgic drama peppered with great northern humour.
A play set in the early Margaret Thatcher years, it opens with a video of one of Thatcher's speeches with her thoughts on the loss of dignity and respect for oneself in being unemployed. Jamie Jenkin's video design is great throughout and coupled with Amy Jane Cook's striking, flexible, girder laden set, a perfect visualisation of the 1980's, industrialised Liverpool life is created.
Music can be such an important part of the creative fibre of plays, and original music and sound here by Dyfan Jones really adds bite to the tone of the play and particularly clever was the use of shanty songs at poignant parts of the piece. A special mention as well here for the movement and fight direction from Rachael Nanyonjo and Rachel Brown-Williams, especially in a scene in act two with the use of slow motion which was captivating.
Through Graham's writing, it's hard to ignore the similarities between the era in which this piece is set and the economic and social struggles we are now experiencing. Liverpool, a once thriving dockyard city which then became a city "facing the wrong way" in economic terms, in comparison to its southern counterparts and rising unemployment and communities finding it hard to make ends meet. The play explores how the characters relationships with each other and their families change in the face of decisions they make in order to survive and build a life for themselves in the midst of the hard times of the early 1980's.
The first act's pace was pretty erratic, which often meant that characters and their stories didn't feel fully explored, but it did begin to settle down towards the end of the act when the characters revisited the story their ill-fated job in Middlesbrough a year earlier. That job is where life started to spiral for Chrissie (George Caple), Loggo (Jurell Carter), Yosser (Jay Johnson), George (Ged McKenna) and Dixie (Mark Womac).
The second act is where the effects of that ill-fated job starts to unveil themselves to the audience. Friendships eroding and marriages on the brink of collapse are brought to life by this very talented cast. Johnson's Yosser is played with great physicality and emotion as we see his mental health decline rapidly as he seeks to be "somebody" in the eyes of society. Fans of the TV series will be pleased to hear that Yosser's trademark catchphrases "Gizza job" and "I can do that" are fully embedded in the script and provide moments of laughter throughout, but his actions push his friends away.
Caple's characterisation of Chrissie is raw and heartbreaking, a man who is too kind for his own good, a man trying to support his wife and children by any means he can, even if that means taking cash in hand jobs whilst signing on. Womack's Dixie is played with much gravitas as he yearns to follow the straight and narrow life. Carter gives an assured portrayal of Loggo, but his character is never really explored to any great length. The linchpin of this group of five is McKenna's George who everyone goes to for advice and to revel in his storytelling of Liverpool's great heritage. McKenna displays all the fatherly warmth of the figurehead of this group with a witty sense of humour.
At its core, this play is focused on men's mental health, something that back in the era it's set, was never really talked about. Hopefully, in today's era, it is more openly dealt with but you cannot deny the relevance this play has in terms of today's social and economic climate with similarities being alarmingly accurate.
The tour of Boys From the Blackstuff continues through to July 2025.
★★★★☆ (4*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Alastair Muir
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