Brassed Off

The playing of newsreel covering the miner’s strike of 1984/85 as the audience took its seats, set the scene perfectly for this emotionally charged play.

Ten years on and the local pit is set to close.  Many of the miners who fought to keep it open are now resigned to taking redundancy. Gloria returns to her home town, sent by the Coal Board in London, to do a profitability study which she naively believes will make a difference. But the decision to close has already been made.

Charlotte Allin gave an excellent performance as Gloria, bringing just the right mixture of pathos and innocence to the role of the Yorkshire lass determined to do everything in her power to save the pit, while trying to hide the fact that she is working for “management”.

A strong performance from Steve Murray as band conductor Danny, trying to keep the band together and coping with his own ill health.  My only criticism here is that his conducting was a little wooden and appeared to lack the passion of a man determined to bring out the best in the band he cares so much about.

Josh Woodgate was well cast as Andy. Too young to be involved in the miner’s strike of the 80’s he is determined to fight to keep the pit open. He and Gloria resurrect their teenage romance but this becomes complicated when he realises the reason behind her return.  

Congratulations to Tony Trott on his portrayal of Phil, a man deeply troubled by mounting debt and taken to the brink of suicide. A challenging role very well played. Emma Letcher was so convincing as Phil’s wife Sandra, at her wits end trying to keep the family together.  This was a performance that tugged at the heartstrings.

Mark Ager and Andy Letcher were superb as miners Harry and Jim.  You could feel the frustration as, tired of fighting, they resigned themselves to the closure of the pit.  Their wives though were determined to fight on and were forces to be reckoned with.  Well done to Gemma Harrison as Rita and Sue Almond as Vera.  The seriousness of the plight of these two couples was interspersed with some lovely comical moments.

Rohan Firat is obviously a natural when it comes to being on stage.  His young voice could have done with some amplification though as it was difficult to hear him at times.  All the same, he did a very good job as Shane, and narrating from a child’s perspective.

Haverhill Silver Band and Centre Stage Company were perfect partners for this production. The miming of some of the instruments by the cast was very well done and had me fooled until I re-read my programme.

Director David Hart certainly brought out the best in this talented cast and the band under the direction of Mark Ager was terrific. 

The scenery was of necessity kept to the back of the stage to make room for the band but it was very cleverly constructed and very effective.  Good use was also made of projected scenery. 

Such a pity the performance was marred by lighting malfunctions during the bows.  I do hope that whatever went wrong was sorted out by the next performance.  The cast deserved better.

Tech issues apart this was an excellent production and I admit to wiping away a tear after the final curtain.

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