ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
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Gizza job!
PAUL DONOVAN recommends a skilful adaptation of Alan Bleasdale’s 1980s epic TV drama
ICONIC: Barry Sloane as Yosser in Boys from the Blackstuff
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JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
MICK McSHANE rubs shoulders with Mod legend Steve Craddock and joins in with the joyous Glasgow choir
DENNIS BROE sifts out the ideological bias of the newest TV series offerings, and picks out what to see, and what to avoid
Boys from the Blackstuff
National Theatre, London
THIS excellent adaptation of Alan Bleasdale’s 1980s epic drama has great resonance for the insecure working environment of today.
The play, about five men struggling to find work in Thatcher’s 1980s Britain, brings out the desperation of the time but not without a little humour.
James Graham’s skilful adaptation compacts what was a five-part serial TV drama into just two-and-a-half hours.
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