Review: Our Friends In The North
March 19, 2008
Venue: The Lowry
Date Reviewed: 19th March 2008
Reader Rating: Add/View Rating
Most people remember the iconic TV show, Our Friends In The North for its brave storylines and engaging characters, played by a variety of since, well- known stars, including Gina McGee, Christopher Eccleston and Daniel Craig. But the series began life as a play for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Watching this big, bold tale, you can see why as it incorporates, drama, politics, corruption and welcome bouts of comedy. It is almost four hours long, but it is directed and performed with such passion and urgency, that the time simply flies by.
Northern Stage have done such a fine job bringing Our Friends back, that you feel like you are something fresh and highly original. The great thing about this play is that it is rooted in historical facts; so we travel back in time to a brave new world, on the cusp of change, which draws clever parallels with the eve of the historic 1997 General Election.
The gifted actors play a huge variety of characters and all of them give remarkable performances. Nicky is the idealistic free thinker who believes that change will come. He finds to his cost that nothing in life comes for free. He is brilliantly played Daniel Ainsleigh who gives him imbues him with humanity, even though his reputaton is in tatters.
Craig Conway’s Geordie is a likeable character who changes due to circumstances out of his control. He, like Nicky becomes a pawn, as scandal, corruption and violence lurk around every street corner. Watching this character’s life disintergrate, before your very eyes is heartbreaking.
Politics is painted as a dangerous game, in which ordinary folk pay for the mistakes of the puppet-masters; the politicians and the police. Like sour milk, many of the situations leave a bad taste in your mouth, as they are so familiar and could have been lifted from today’s headlines.
Soutra Gilmour’s set design is essentially a porta-cabin, which houses a multitude of locations. It gives the play the raw feel which it needs and cleverly takes you from boardroom to bedroom. The only flaw with the play is that often the set changes detract from the narrative, as there are too many.
But, Northern Stage’s revival of this fascinating saga is a gripping tale which has Shakespearean and contemporary undertones throughout. Never has Politics become so interesting and so utterly mesmerising.
Forget the play’s length; this is the most worthwhile and entertaining three hours, that you will spend in a theatre for some time.
-Glenn Meads
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