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.

In the first half the scene is set moving from workplace to workplace, with the men, pursued by a particularly virulent benefits investigator (Jamie Peacock). The second half focuses more on the individual stories of the central characters.

Barry Sloane, playing Yosser Hughes, dominates much of the plot, as of course Bernard Hill did in the original drama. Sloane does a great job, playing the iconic role, made so famous by Hill.

This is the slow unravelling and destruction of a character, who just wants better, but is continually thwarted by an unjust and unfair system.

The famous “give us a job” line is liberally deployed, with Hughes making the request of literally everyone he meets, with the exception of the police who arrest him and the Catholic priest who hears his confession.

The latter scene brings forth some of the bubbling humour of the production, when the priest says to call him Dan, not father, Hughes replies: “I’m desperate Dan.”

The character of George Malone is also central. Originally based on Alan Bleasdale’s uncle, George (Philip Whitchurch) represents socialist values and community in the time before Thatcher.

George’s dying words are a cry to stand up for the working class. His funeral proves a highlight of the play, bringing the workers together.

There are other excellent performances from Nathan McMullen as Chrissie, Jamie Peacock as the benefits inspector, Lauren O’Neill as Angie and a high-pitched benefits clerk and Mark Womack as Dixie.

Director Kate Wasserberg keeps the whole show moving quickly between tragic and lighter moments. The production skilfully avoids plumbing too far the depths of morbidity, which would have been an easy trap to fall into. 

The set designed by Amy Jane Cook nicely captures the atmosphere of working-class Liverpool in the 1980s: the Mersey backdrop, with the ramshackle buildings to the fore. Set a year after the Toxteth riots, there is a montage of film from the time, including Thatcher, to help set the scene.

This excellent production, that started life at the Royal Court in Liverpool, certainly leaves the audience with plenty to reflect on and, leaves you wanting more. Maybe a trilogy, made up of a dramatisation of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists before and the gig economy of today after? 

Runs till June 8 at the National Theatre, then till August 3 at the Garrick Theatre.