Hull Truck
Following the fortunes of a group of Yorkshire colliery workers who trade pit helmets for straw boaters in their spare time, Richard Cameron's musical drama is like Brassed Off with barbershop harmonies instead of euphoniums. But if it cleaves to the template established by works such as the Cavalcaders and Stepping Out, Cameron succeeds in capturing a moment when Britain was on the brink of profound social change.
It's 1962 and the signs of things to come are in place when Colin, the youngest member of the group, breezes into rehearsal with a newly acquired guitar; foreshadowing a trend that will soon usher fey arrangements of Tin Pan Alley showtunes out to pasture. More troubling is the fact that timorous music director Phil is being blackmailed by a jealous boyfriend.
Cameron's drama refuses to sentimentalise the period. The close harmony arrangements mirror the interdependence of the community the characters come from; and there is a touching lack of self-consciousness when two of the men ? who have both lost their wives, one to illness and the other to the Rington's tea man ? come to depend on each other as dancing partners. Yet it is shocking to witness how quickly the group's solidarity disintegrates when Phil finally admits to being homosexual.
Tessa Walker's keenly observed production is very well-acted and strikes all the right notes both emotionally and musically. There's particularly affecting work from Marc Pickering's would-be Billy Fury; from Michael Chance, who invests the closeted Phil with quiet dignity; and John Burton as Walt, the least articulate of the group, whose son has been taken into care and now sends letters signed "Yours sincerely". It takes courage to sing about the Sunny Side of the Street while knowing you'll never be able to cross the road.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2011/sep/21/glee-club-hull-truck-review
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