Moving and thought-provoking play

Alan Bleasdale and James Graham’s is, sadly, as relevant today as it was in 2020 when it premiered in Liverpool. Is that something to be proud of?

Far from it, for Boys from the Blackstuff (“blackstuff” is tarmac, for they were all roadbuilders in better times) brings us all up face to face with the wretchedness and constant fear of being on the dole.

“Why has the dole office called me for interview?” asks Loggo. Will he end up in jail if the sniffer (snooper) finds that he has been working on the quiet? Is it safe to open the door or must all conversations happen through the letterbox – just in case? and so on and so on. Has anything changed in our society, one of the richest in the world?

Not a lot. That is nothing of which we may be proud. We, the “haves”, live comfortably here in the South East while many of our population still have nothing. Boys from the Blackstuff does not purport to offer answers to the question of how men live when they cannot find work, or of how easily that situation may come about. It merely shows us the harsh realities of life for working people in the North when there is no work to be found and of the importance of their having a job - any job.

For a job is about so much more than money. It is about a man’s self-esteem, his sense of selfhood as this production makes clear. One tiny criticism of the play as it is written is that there is so very little mention of how a man’s unemployment impacts on his wife and family – as it did, as it does. Certainly there are very accomplished performances (as one would expect from a cast of this high a calibre) by Amber Blease and Victoria Oxley, but other than that the plight of the women is not mentioned.

Maybe women were even less visible in the Eighties, when the play is set. Ms Sutcliffe (Sian Polhill-Turner) of the dole office is the only other female. She redeems herself eventually by excusing the boys from prosecution when they are tracked down by the pathetic jobsworth Sniffer (well played by Jamie Peacock).

It would be remiss not to mention the grim set design, the thought which went into every aspect of this production from the set movers to the choreography of every fight scene (fights directed by Rachel Bown-Williams). This is especially poignant when the police arrest Yosser (movingly and expertly played throughout by Jay Johnson). Just the sight of Yosser, who has lost his kids and his all through unemployment, his body language alone is enough to reduce one to tears.

There are lighter moments too. Laugh if you can at the jokes within the script but the poignancy of the story is what you will remember. Following a sell-out season at the National Theatre and prior to going on tour, the Theatre Royal Windsor must indeed be honoured to be hosting a play of such importance with a cast of monumental standing in the theatre world. Don’t miss your chance to see this outstanding production. It is a treat for all theatre lovers and it’s just down the road.

Boys from the Blackstuff is playing at the Theatre Royal Windsor until Saturday, February 8.