The play continues to run at the National’s Olivier Theatre until 8th June before transferring to the West End’s Garrick Theatre from 13th June.
WhatsOnStage: *** “The story of Liverpool, too, makes its mark, constantly reflected in Jamie Jenkin’s wonderful videos of the Mersey, and in the memories of ex-docker George (Philip Whitchurch, gently impressive). He beautifully describes the way the riches of the world made their way into the city via its docks – until Liverpool’s significance as a port was lost when the Mersey proved too shallow and too thin for containers, and the growing trade with Europe meant it was literally facing the wrong way.”
London Theatre.co.uk: **** “The play’s conclusion carries a blunt and powerful message about the cost of securing permanent work, but the revelation of the inner workings of the Department of Employment also serves to sanitise some of Bleasdale’s original message about the struggle of those trying to make a living within a broken system. This may not be a wholly accurate image of what it means to suffer on the receiving end of an unforgiving government, but it remains very compelling.”
The Independent: *** “Leading political playwright James Graham is burdened by the need to preserve this classic piece of writing about unemployed men in 1980s Liverpool, but the show comes alive when it finds the raw edges of poverty and desperation.”
The Stage: *** “James Graham’s adaptation of the seminal Alan Bleasdale TV drama is timely, but doesn’t hit hard enough.”
Evening Standard: **** “Wasserberg keeps the action brisk though, and the acting is full-throated and vivid. Designer Amy Jane Cook gives us two looming cranes framing a screen where Liverpool’s dark skies, docks and two cathedrals swim into being. This is a blast from the past which still echoes today: flawed but stirring.”
The Arts Desk: **** “Written by Bleasdale at a time of high unemployment in the early years of the Thatcher Government, Boys from the Blackstuff still resonates in Graham’s version. Employment is now high, but in an era of zero hours contracts, food banks and the need to manage multiple jobs, there are many in straitened circumstances who would recognise the struggles of the 1980s.”
The Reviews Hub: ***** “This is a strong ensemble performance with actors playing multiple roles, but Barry Sloane’s star-making turn as Yosser Hughes is especially heart-rending, a character prone to violent outbursts that, in Sloane’s devastating performance, are deeply rooted in the powerlessness he feels. Philip Whitchurch is quietly affecting as George whose physical decline is symbolic of those wider forces affecting this community, while Mark Womack’s honourable Dixie and Nathan McMullen’s cornered Chrissie are equally touching. Helen Carter and Lauren O’Neil have much to play against but deliver some of the show’s comic high points with their Dole Office team among others.”
Theatre & Tonic: *** “Ultimately it is a very somber piece with flecks of light. However, the characters don’t seem to move or grow too much which makes the play feel relentless. You want to feel hope rather than bleakness but feel it draining away with every moment. Due to the heavy nature, it just seems too long. Nothing thrusts the story forward and you feel stuck, just like the characters. With the current cost of living crisis there does seem to be some parallels between Liverpool in the 80’s and Britain in general today – it will resonate with modern audiences.”
Broadway World: **** “Nevertheless, the power and the anger, if not the shock, of The Boys From The Blackstuff is captured and compressed into two and a half hours and that surely trumps my misgivings. An all-time great television show becoming a pretty good play is perhaps as much as one could have hoped for.”
London Unattached: “Graham and Bleasdale ultimately make a great team, and together they have created a brooding and at times deeply touching exploration of the underdog, male pride, and human dignity.”
The Upcoming: ***** “Though very much a product of its time, many of the themes remain as pertinent today as they were when the scourge of neoliberalism first reared its head some four decades earlier. The 80s were an era in which unions were systematically dismantled, and from which we still suffer the ramifications. Likewise, in place of the sniffers are DWP assessors who have been awarded greater powers to penalise benefit claimants. Moreover, the fact that those in power no longer fear socialism, as Snowy points out, has only enabled them to become more brazen in their attacks on the working class. A warning from a not-too-distant history, Boys from the Blackstuff is a powerful lesson in how the landscape of modern-day Britain came to be.”
London Theatre1: *** “There’s sufficient exposition to allow anyone unfamiliar with the characters from the television series of the same name to take in proceedings with clarity. I couldn’t help thinking this could have been at least twenty minutes shorter, especially as the characters that made it through to the end of the play are more or less in the same bleak circumstances than they were at the beginning. A strong cast with no weak links to report, though the show is let down somewhat by various reiterations of the same point about it being grim up north.”
There Ought to be Clowns: “Kate Wasserberg’s production thus has something of an uncomplicated directness to it, playing out in the industrial detail of Amy Jane Cook’s set. Barry Sloane is phenomenal as Yosser, barely keeping it together such is his desperation; Philip Whitchurch’s ailing George is deeply moving as he constantly tries to keep the camaraderie going; and Nathan McMullen also impresses as Chrissie, conflicted by a job offer he doesn’t want to accept even despite the anguish it causes his wife Angie, Lauren O’Neil scorching the stage with her fury. Powerful stuff indeed.”
To book tickets visit: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/boys-from-the-blackstuff/