Review of Loft Theatre Company production of Brassed Off (2009)

Any stage play which climaxes with a full-blown brass band playing its heart out at the Royal Albert Hall must give cause for wonder.

Easy enough to achieve on film, yes, but in the confines of local theatre?

A fair slice of ingenuity and a mass of sheer hard slog can make it happen, which is why Loft audiences can now savour a blow-by-blow account of a miners’ band pitting itself against personal and political adversity to triumph over the odds.

Unusually, Paul Allen’s play is based on the film and it’s surprising how few corners have been cut. So the challenge is enormous and Gus MacDonald’s production meets it head-on.

There is splendid teamwork between a carefully assembled cast and the actors blend seamlessly with a first-rate imported brass ensemble, Ten 2 Go, for some exhilarating musical delivery. It punctuates a tale of emotional and financial hardship for the families whose existence is thrown into disarray with the demise of the local coal mine.

In many ways the story fits more comfortably into a stage environment, seeming less overtly political and more a spirited character study. In this context, much credit must go to Michael Rayns for his ailing, single-minded bandleader determinedly resisting a lost cause, to Rachel Cooper and Paul Vickers as the young couple inextricably caught up in events beyond their control and to Julia Donoghue and Tom O’Connor as family victims of a cruel new society.

Despite its theme, the show applies broad humour to earthy realism and is hugely enjoyable. There are flashes of brilliance, such as the opening scene, and just an occasional blip – a cardboard coach sequence which should be banished back to panto-land.

But the ultimate achievement of it all is a rousing crescendo of theatricality.

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Peter McGarry is an experienced, independent professional theatre critic who has agreed to review Loft Theatre Company productions.

The agreement with the Loft is that Peter is free to express his opinions for good or ill. The Loft Theatre Company has no control whatsoever over the content of these reviews and will never comment publicly on what he writes.