Brassed Off

It is 1994, Grimethorpe Colliery faces the threat of closure and the future of the brass band seems uncertain. With the miners torn between redundancy packages and the picket lines, the story shows an extraordinary insight in to real life. Band-leader Danny’s aspirations of winning the national brass band competition seem like a distant dream when faced with barely committed band members. The timely arrival of flugelhorn-playing Gloria brings hope, romance and controversy to the Yorkshire brass band on the brink of collapse.

Featuring rousing live music including Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, Jerusalem and Danny Boy. Brassed Off is a funny and heart-warming play that deals with the hard facts of reality versus dreams.

Passionate and inspiring – a celebration of community spirit and human nature, finding success against all the odds.

Director Seb Farell delivered a fast paced, funny and most touching piece of theatre. The opening sequence complete with cross-overs worked extremely well and set up the play nicely, introducing the characters whilst one of the central characters, Shane, mucked about conducting the Golborne Brass Band. What a fantastic opening. Seb Farrell achieved a good level of gloom where required and certainly directed his cast in a manner that we empathised with them. Equally matched was the quality of comedy achieved throughout, a highlight being the band competition. This was staged in a very comical way leaving us howling with laughter.

There were a few occasions where I personally think small changes could have been made- however these are my personal opinion, and didn’t detract from the quality of players on stage. Firstly when Gloria was introduced to the band, we unfortunately couldn’t see the reaction from Andy, as he was being fully blocked by Gloria. Secondly the positioning of Danny whilst in bed during the Hospital scene meant we couldn’t quite see his facial expressions. By placing Danny higher in the bed I feel we would have been able to connect with him more. Finally I would have preferred a more controlled delivery from the character Phil in his suicide attempt. I lost a good deal of his script at this point.

Michael Mullan brought such endearment to the role of Danny, his journey was very accomplished. Michael has great stage presence which was evident when he had his back to us while conducting his band. I could still feel his energy. A very natural delivery.

Peter Brennan gave his role of Phil some real life, a very busy character dealing with a good deal of issues. Peter managed the role well. Conflicted by his righteous nature and trying to please everyone this character is certainly up against it. A good portrayal of this robust character was achieved, acceptable chemistry between Phil and on-stage wife Sandra and father Danny, which was one of my favourite relationships in this play.

Clare Grimes gave Sandra some real heart and soul, one couldn’t help but feel for her. The mum trying to keep all the pieces of the jigsaw together has some real struggles in this play. Clare’s delivery was excellent. Her relationship with her on-stage children was great developing some good energy in their scenes. A lovely actress to watch.

Alexander Clare as Jim, wonderful delivery, he conveyed the pressure his character felt, to do the right thing by his mates and then his wife. Alexander had great comedic timing, he also worked well with his fellow cast getting the most out of every scene.

Bryan Higgins gave a fine performance in the role of Harry. Bryan has the most remarkable presence on stage, he gave his character so much realism. His grasp of the script and the manner in which he delivered his lines, he could have written them. Great comedy with a highlight being his antics in the band competition.

Matthew Orrillard gave a ‘cheeky chappy’ performance as Andy, with infectious energy you couldn’t help but love this character. Hit by cupid’s arrow, he played love struck and clumsy awfully well. Onstage chemistry with Gloria was excellent with some lovely interaction within their scenes.

Gloria played by Danielle Segar was everything that was required, good interpretation of the role, her facial expressions were so good, I could see the feelings of conflict on her face something that is quite difficult to portray. Well done as this established your character very well. Flirty and fun being an equal match for her on stage romance Andy.

Shane played by Isaac Hartill was a joy to watch. Tremendous energy in each of his scenes, he has great timing for one so young. The role of Shane acts as somewhat of a narrator throughout he production bringing the audience up to speed. Isaac had lovely moments with his on-stage mum and dad, a wonderful actor.

Phillppa Shaw as Vera, gave a nice performance. I perhaps wanted Vera to be a bit grander, or more over the top trying to give off the impression of higher class in society. This said she had good chemistry with on stage friend Rita, giving us great comedy throughout.

Karen Whiteley gave some gusto to the role of Rita, I really enjoyed this performance. She had excellent chemistry with her on stage husband Harry, I felt this coupling worked very well. Funny and bright, she brought a good deal of heart to this production.

The ensemble players were used to great affect adding nice layers to the piece. They were very committed to each scene developing many colourful characters which allowed the audience to invest in the story completely.

Golborne Brass Band must be congratulated on their wonderful performance, it cannot be denied that we hear some excellent players deliver fine pieces of music. Each player adapted to the play and must have been a director’s joy to have on board as they all looked as though they were part of this story, something that could have gone the other way entirely. Each cast member mimed the “playing” very well, to the point where it was difficult to say that they were not playing, again adding to the realism of the piece, a job well done.

The set was genius, using one fixed piece throughout. This worked flawlessly, director Seb Farrell had a very good vision when creating this aspect of the show. There are many scenes in this play but each one adapted beautifully to this set. It had a dirty, mucky vibe which gave of the right energy once it was exposed to us fully. Lighting added so much to this piece giving light and shade, it emphasised the stale, murky nature of the location, and it was sharp in its execution.

I must say I really enjoyed watching this production. Centenary never fail to deliver excellent productions with so much passion and professionalism. You captured the real essence of this play, you brought laughter and tears to your audience and I thank you for performing one of my favourites.

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