Well this play certainly packs a punch! It is 80 minutes of intense brilliance!
The two actors play multiple roles and switch from dialogue to narrative to achieve the complexities of the storyline.
There is self-deprecating, laugh out loud fun but also an abundance of serious issues, the audience feels compelled to focus on throughout. Steel is written by Lee Mattinson with music by Mark Melville and directed by Liz Stevenson. It is the story of two teenage lads, James (Jordan Tweddle) and Kaman (Suraj Shah) living in Workington, once a prosperous town, now neglected and run down.
They feel trapped in their surroundings, different from others, with few prospects.
Out of the blue James receives a phone call from ‘Lynn from London’; they arrange to meet and she tells him he is the owner of a mile of British Railway line (secured by his three-times grandfather in 1903) and if he can find the original document to prove it she will give him one million pounds!
So the hunt begins, they only have twelve hours. The audience is then treated to a whirlwind of mini adventures, through the pubs and parks of Workington. We met family members who help piece together the puzzle of the document, their stories also revealing a Workington family's troubled past and lies.
Raw emotion is exposed with heartache and humour. Watch out for the slow-momiming action and the description of what it’s really like to work at Burger King. The final strand to the play is the relationship between James and Kamran, will their love and affection for each other endure the events of a chotic 12 hours?
Jordan Tweddle and Suraj Shah work their socks off to draw the audience into their world with great success. Their burgeoning talent is obvious.
Steel is showing at Theatre by the Lake from 3 to 19 October as part of CumbriaFest.
A tour then follows:
The Centre, Maryport: 23 October
Florence Arts Centre, Egremont: 24 October
The Beggars Theatre, Millom: 25 October
Carlisle Youth Zone: 30 October
The Carnegie Theatre and Arts Centre, Workington: 2 and 3 November
Header Image: Chris Payne
