Boys From the Blackstuff
Theatre Royal Brighton
Tickets
Written by: James Grasham
Directed by: Kate Wasserberg
Genre: Play/Drama
Duration: 2.30 Hours (inc. 20-minute interval)
The Boys from the Black Stuff is a tale of hope-searching in a hopeless world. It’s the story of five men, holding each other in the darkness and the mist, waiting for the sun to shine again. It’s raw, poetic, and too relevant for our own good.
1982, Liverpool. Chrissie, Loggo, George, Dixie and Yosser want to work. They desperately want to work. They need to work. Yet, there is no work, bar the occasional cash-in-hand gig who puts them on the ‘sniffers’ trail, who are ready to take away what little these men have. Based on Alan Bleasdale’s mini-TV series, The Boys from the Black Stuff comes to theatre in an emotional and tragically human play. Writer James Grasham and director Kate Wasserberg did an incredible job at translating the story from the screen to the stage, managing to capture the attention even of those who aren’t familiar with the original material.
As a child of the 2008 financial crisis, this story is very close to home for me. The struggle for employment, being caught in the endless workings of a machine that’s meant to use you, then discard you. People’s lives become numbers, statistics, paperwork, and lose all humanity in the face of bureaucracy. We see neighbours turning against each other, sons against fathers, as the working class faces unprecedented economic hardship and the ‘people on benefits’ are turned into villains by the media and the government.
Yet, these characters go on. The story pulls us deeper and deeper into their lives, their minds. We understand their struggles, their motivations, we learn of the dreams they had to abandon. We feel affinity with them, we want them to break free from the vicious cycle of unemployment. As the cost of living crisis in the UK gets worse, we cannot help but see ourselves in these characters, and as we hope they survive, we hope we’ll do so too.
Financial struggles aren’t the only focal point of the story. The plot touches on themes of masculinity, parenthood, racism, domestic violence and worker’s rights. Most of all, though, the show is about people, about their worth, detached from the economic value they produce. These characters stand out because of their passion, their loyalty to each other, their generosity even when their pockets are empty. The Boys from the Black Stuff is a story of struggle and powerlessness. Of pain and disease and hunger. But it is also a story of friendship, love, and dreams that win over everything else.
Jay Johnson (Yosser) delivers an outstanding performance as a single father, whose financial situation and emotional dysregulation put him at risk of losing the only thing he has left, his children. Johnson offers a multi-faceted and complex portrayal of his character. Through his tough words and strong hands, we see a wounded, tired man. We see the product of years of government abuse and disregard for the working class’s rights. But we also see pride, in his work and in his family. We see ambition, and drive.
The Boys from the Black Stuff serves as a reminder of what large-scale economics does to ordinary, hard-working people. A reminder that government policies and practices affect the people ‘at the bottom’ in the most dramatic ways. It is also a mirror to today’s financial landscape, in which people still struggle and still, they hope.
Boys from the Black Stuff is currently playing at Theatre Royal Brighton until 21st June.
Reviewer: Roberta Guarini
⭐⭐⭐⭐