Theatre Group trip to see Boys from the Blackstuff at The Churchill Theatre (20th February)

Direct from a sold-out season at The National Theatre Alan Bleasdale’s “Boys from the Blackstuff” is the acclaimed adaption of the Award-Winning TV series of 1982 which still has echoes today.

Brave, bleak and brilliant, and rightly relevant to today’s economic situation it is an insightful drama about hard hit times. Set in Toxteth, Liverpool L8 some of the 20 members attending found the accent difficult to understand at times. This depiction of life on the dole is a stark account of those most affected by the UKs record number of 3 million unemployed at this time.

It mainly focuses on the boys of the blackstuff (tarmac layers) as they struggle to support their families during the depression whilst avoiding the benefit fraud officer. The most famous character is the redoubtable Yosser Hughes whose mental health disintegrates under the strain of having no work no money and ultimately loses everything including his children. His often-repeated phrase “gis us a job” and “I can do that” entered the people’s lexicon in Britain.

Sometimes a difficult watch but it certainly gave us something to think about and reflect on today’s times.

Contributed by Ruth Mackie