Boys from the Blackstuff

For many the first years of Thatcher’s Britain were mentally and physically destroying as industries were hard hit and workers laid off.

At the time, playwright Alan Bleasdale ‘s spot on television series, Boys from the Blackstuff hit the mark looking at the harsh realities of Northern England’s industrial decline.

His fabulous insight into the little talked about effects on the mental health on the workers was so successful, the programme was repeated just nine weeks after the initial transmission.

In 2023, the stage version written by James Graham made its debut at Liverpool’s Royal Court and is now touring the UK, making its Scottish debut at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal and telling the tale of five friends badly hit by their circumstances.

With a modern and simple corrugated iron and rusty girder backdrop by set designer Amy Jane Cook, Chrissie (George Caple), Loggo (Jurell Carter), Yosser (Jay Johnson), George (Ged McKenna) and Dixie (Mark Womack) play out their emotions.

Having met standing in the dole queue where there is little chance of finding a job, the men cling to each other as they desperately try to keep hold of their dignity.

The story begins during the Toxeth riots, with film images of Liverpool and the mighty River Mersey in the background.

The men and their families are facing financial ruin, no food on the table, utilities cut off and all the while as they struggle to come to terms with being left on the scrap heap in middle age.

It’s a powerful cast, backed up with Reiss Barber (Snowy), Amber Blease (Angie), Kyle Harrison Pope (Kevin), Sean Kingsley (Malloy), Jamie Peacock (Moss), Sian Polhill-Thomas (Ms Sutcliffe) and the ensemble of Graham Elwell, Eliott Kingsley and Victoria Oxley.

The original message was a simple one, showing the devastating effects that change not handled in the right way, can cause.

And the play resonates that despite more than 20 years passing since Thatcher’s decisions harmed a community, people are still being treated badly and are still suffering.

It’s a strong and social play, which is acted out with tenderness and real emotion. It runs in Glasgow until Saturday and then moves to Birmingham Rep from 18^th to 22^nd March, the Liverpool Empire from 25^th to 29^th March, then on to Cheltenham at the Everyman Theatre between 8^th and 12^th April before moving to the Derby Theatre from 15^th to 19^th April. It’s then to The Lowry, Salford from 22^nd to 26^th April and the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford from 29^th April to 3^rd May, followed by the Leeds Grand Theatre from 13^th to 17^th May,

The play moves to the Theatre Royal, Newcastle from 20^th to 24^th May, then the Mercury Theatre, Colchester from 28^th to 31^st May. It’s up to the Cast, Doncaster from 3^rd to 7^th June, the Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent from 10^th to 14^th June before making its way down to the Brighton Theatre Royal from 17^th to 21^st June and Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury from 24^th to 28^th June, finishing at the Theatre Clwyd from 1^st to 5^th July. For ticket information and availability, please visit: www.atgtickets.com.

Author Bio:

Rebecca Hay is an experienced travel writer and member of The British Guild of Travel Writers. Follow her adventures with her family on Twitter and Instagram @emojiadventurer and on Facebook via EmojiAdventurers2.

Photographs courtesy of Alastair Muir