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Reviewed by Michael P. Nunn "Jack has now been the most popular name for baby boys in each of the last nine years."
Lancaster University's Fortieth celebrations begin
This multi-media production is more than just a mere play though the attractions of work by the ever-popular Yorkshireman John Godber would in many places be enough to fill the house. Not for Mostly Theatres' artistic director Kieran Healey, though. He has taken material from two full-length plays from the early 1980s by Godber, and produced a dramatically credible unity, using visual images, mime, verse and music. "Jack was a miner, a father, a brawler, sometime poet, thug, conman, lover and comedian" This 'revival' (it is much more than that) encompasses and explores different aspects of the relationship between the eponymous hero, Jack Munroe, and his wife, Liz, and does so in multiple dimensions. Built of short scenes of reminiscence and memory (I was never quite sure whether I was in the present or not), the 'play' explores both the happier moments of the ordinary couple's life, such as the highly charged romance on the promenade at Whitley Bay, and, on the other end of the spectrum, the interminable domestic frustrations and arguments that were inevitable in small, close and closed pit communities. When this country had a mining industry, that is …  Multi-media event
There was more to the production than just a straightforward two-character play. The evening was introduced by and punctuated with readings of some original verse by Pete Brooks, Andrew Hardie and others, and the intervals enlivened by music from a group led by Mat Bailey. Also contributing to the multi-media experience were displays of photographs from Alexia Elmerhebi, David Tripepi and Richard Gabb inside and outside the Gregson's 'upper room', and indeed on the set next to the washing lines, as if they had been hung out to air, or dry -- or something. During the first interval there was sat in a corner near the bar, one of the Liz's -- my partner noticed she was playing nervously with her wedding ring, as if to remind us that even when we can't see people, their problems are still there. Who is Jack?Returning to the play, there was a further novelty in that the parts of Jack and Liz were distributed between a cast of eight five women and three men, who also occasionally took the role of a Chorus to indicate time, place and mood. "Page six, scene one. The Munroes' household. Two large easy chairs and a gramophone. Jack is seated, he is …" Distributing the parts like this reminded me that there are many sides to even the seemingly most straightforward character, and that one person would see, say, Jack, from a different point of view from me or anybody else. That all might sound confusing, and it was certainly a novel experience. Did it work, you might ask. Mostly yes. The 'play proper' was skilfully acted on a simple and flexible set, and mime was a significant part of the action the birth of Liz's child was a fine piece of drama. Yorkshire flavourDelivery and diction were also good, particularly the Yorkshire accents. I am told that alongside native Scots, Welsh and French (I have already commended Sarah de Block ), there was only one 'Yorkie' from Doncaster among the cast. As a Leeds Loiner I was impressed with the (mostly good) consistency and particularly with one Jack who, rightly, gave the lines a strong Barnsley edge. Just as they do up and down the United Kingdom, accent and dialect vary within Yorkshire. There is an audible world of difference between Whitby and Barnsley, and a trained ear can place an accent to North or South of the Aire a mere two miles apart within Leeds. I digress… And the rest? I came away feeling that not only had I witnessed aspects in the married life and the separate individual lives of Jack and Liz, but had also wondered, well, what or who are the real Jack and Liz? There is no answer, of course, except how each of us perceives them.
"We do not exist, let alone flourish, in isolation from each other."
The two parts of the one marriage stimulate, repress, gratify and sometimes simply annoy each other. Further, the situations we find ourselves in, such as Liz's worsening illness, which appears to be a serious growth, and the "Preston bottleneck", bring out different sides of our natures and personalities.  As human beings, we are all complex mixtures of feelings and emotions which change continuously. Further, relationships change over time. The daily humdrum and sacrosanct ritual of washing, cleaning underground shifts, the dreaded accidents and pneumonoconiosis etc and all-too-rare-holidays bears upon so many people even now, many years after the demise of mining and other industries. NewLabour, old slavery?
And because of all this, who is to say that I left The Gregson with the same 'persona' of Jack or Liz in my mind as my partner? Or the same as anyone else in the audience? We will all have taken away different interpretations of the same production based to some extent on our own experiences and values. For me, Jack and Liz are the victims of a physically and socially hard life in a traditional and dangerous industry which my father's family knew, and which the termagant Thatcher relentlessly dismantled. Yes, I cry each time I see Brassed Off because I have seen the irreparable damage done to countless communities, small and large, across swathes of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and South Wales. There were even pits in Tory Kent when I worked there.
Liz: But just to put the record straight …
Everyone else's recollections of the evening will have been different. Younger people in the audiences will have been moved by other aspects of Jack, Liz and their relationship. Healey has given another layer, if not further layers, of meanings to Godber's text. This is a remarkable achievement in one so young - and not a Yorkshireman, either. He was well supported by all his team, including a strong cast and a good technical side. Healey has ambition, ability and vision, and needs encouragement and wider cross-media support: the multi-media aspects of the experience need better developing. Nonetheless, this fascinating and commendable piece of unified work was a worthy theatrical start to the University's fortieth celebrations. I am particularly looking forward to a Lancaster-based piece, perhaps a new commission, in their forthcoming programme. Happy [in the rain], toured to Lazonby Village Hall, Cumbria, on Saturday 21 February 2004, and Shap Community Development Centre a week later on Saturday 28 February 2004. I also hear whispers that it may well return to Lancaster next month. Watch this space! Copyright © 22 February 2004 Michael Nunn |
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