Up on Roof

Synopsis

In the midst of the Hull Prison riot of 1976 Singe and Yebsley declare the roof of 'A-wing' to be for 'Hull Kids only', and set about enjoying the sunshine, chucking sweets to the kids in Southgates Lane, and making money. Singe, the ‘A-wing bookie, has the only television that s not been trashed, there s a full card at Haydock, and Declan and those Irish boys like to gamble. But Singe s runner, Yebsley, can t concentrate on his work because he s fallen in love with a girl in Newtown Court Flats, and has to hide from ‘Mad Hatchet Jack who has a score to settle, and an axe with which to settle it. This fictional account of the Hull Prison Riot takes us 'up on roof' and into the comic and tragic lives of the Hull men doing bird alongside the 'Category A' prisoners of the IRA, the Richardson gang, and the Angry Brigade

Our Review:

8 March 2006

Award-winning playwright Richard Bean, in his first home-town premiere, takes full advantage of his Hull background. As he notes himself, he can “tap into all the Hull stories people here will appreciate”, but which would make less sense to a London audience.

This can be a bit parochial, as the presence of a stranger lets the local characters point out the streets visible from the roof of Hull Prison, the A-to-Z as drama. But generally, despite the occasional uneasy clash of tone, Up on Roof successfully blends the accessible populist comedy of much of Hull Truck’s programme with something grittier and more surreal.

The grit is supplied by the 1976 riot in Hull Prison when barricades were erected, fires started and prisoners on the roof made contact with the media to publicise their grievances. In Bean’s fictional take on the events, the only thing publicised on Singe’s section of roof is the fact that he is taking no part in the riot: he is in no mo...

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Latest User Review

84.65.140.18) - 14 March 2006:

Hull Truck have scored a bulls-eye in commissioning Hull-born Richard Bean (recently gaining huge acclaim with "Harvest" at the Royal Court) to write a play set in the city. The result is the superb "Up On Roof", a fictional story set against the actual Hull Prison Riots of 1976. A terrific amount of humour, some of it local based (after the previous play here "A Kick Up The Baubles", Grimsby residents have a right to feel aggrevied!) surrounds a touching and intricate story of two of the inmates, trying to avoid the consequences of the riots. Martin Barrass and Matt Sutton are simply superb as these two central characters, moving through a range of emotions with ease, faultless timing, and total conviction. They are given excellent support from Chris Connel, Rachel Helen, James Weaver, and Michael Glenn Murphy - although a couple of these parts are sketchily written. The play is beautifully paced, and although I did guess the denouement, it was only by a matter of minutes! Best of all it is not a play that attempted to tie up all the loose threads, leaving the audience to take their speculation home with them. A triumph!...

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