I have a confession to make: I have never seen Brassed Off. I don’t particularly know why: it may have been slight over-exposure to The Floral Dance in my late youth. It may have been that by the 1990s, when the film came out and I lived in the south, attempts to destroy working class communities (again) were targeting different industries. Maybe the plight of the miners seemed old news more than 10 years after Orgreave. But, last night in Leeds that omission was corrected. And the really sad thing is that the story is still so relevant today, 30 years on.
Director Amy Leach has brought this portrait of a Yorkshire mining community back to life at the Quarry Theatre, Leeds Playhouse. It may seem odd, but since Paul Allen and Mark Herman adapted Brassed Off for stage in 1998, it has never been staged in Leeds before.
Designer Katie Scott has created a real sense of the enormousness of the pit in the town’s life, coal dust seeming to touch everything. The giant pit wheel looms over the whole town. She uses the huge space to great effect with a set that adapts from pit head to street scene, from rehearsal room to pub to domestic life, while always acknowledging the presence of the coal.
There will still be music
The late Duncan Beckley MBE played a key role in helping bring the music and musicians to this production before his death last September. It seems a fitting legacy. Musicians from Horbury Victoria Brass Band and Wakefield Metropolitan Brass Band join the actor-musicians throughout, with no fewer than 10 pieces performed. Robin Morrissey, who plays Phil, learned to play trombone for this production, which I find impressive.
Music, then, is central to the story. As band leader, Danny Ormondroyd, (David Birrell) tells the band: “Long after the last P45 and long after the last ton o’ coal, there will still be music. And if we’re remembered, that’s the only bloody way.” Danny is struggling to keep the band together as the closure of the pit looms over the entire community. Many of the miners are still in debt since the strikes of 1984–85. Their wives resent the band subs as an unnecessary expense.
pionshipsThe band’s adventures through the stages of the National Brass Band Championships form a backdrop to the story of the town.
End of an era
Brassed Off sees the community near breaking point. Grimley Colliery is facing a ‘private’ ballot between immediate closure (and redundancies) and a review procedure to decide on privatising the pit. If they vote against closure and the review fails, the promised £23,000 redundancy shrinks back to £15,000. The miners must wrestle between the loss of hope and pride and a ‘decent’ pay-off.
Rita and Vera (Pauline Tomlin and Wendy Albiston) are brought together by genuine love of their community but see different routes forward. Rita wants to fight on and challenge the closure, and leads the women’s protests in the town. Rita seems to see already that the end will come anyway. Their husbands Harry (Ewen Cummins) and Jim (Andy Cryer) are work mates in the mine, best mates, drinking buddies and the two women’s biggest worries.
Gloria Mullins (Maddie Hansen) is the granddaughter of Danny’s best friend from the old days (now long passed). She arrives in Grimley with her flugelhorn and impresses the band with her playing skills. Danny encourages the band to let her join.
What they don’t realise at first is that she has been sent to do a profitability study on the mine in her old hometown, naïvely believing that she can save the mine. She rekindles a school-days romance with Andy (Frazer Hadfield), but the other miners are disgusted when they find out she is ‘mangement’. Tempers flare when Jim calls Andy a ‘scab’, but Jim is forced by Harry to retreat to just calling him ‘stupid’.
Breaking point
Some members are already past that point. Sandra, (Danielle Henry), a loving wife and mother struggling against immense poverty, presents a model of triumph of hope and love. Until she just can’t anymore. When the debt collectors clear the house, and she finds out that Phil has spent money on a new trombone, she feels she has no choice but to leave.
Her husband Phil is a near-beaten man, trying to rebuild his life, when life won’t give him the chance. He has spent 18 months in Armley for participating in disorder in the 1980s and is still trying to get straight. He and Sandra live from hand to mouth, dodging the loan sharks and debt collectors.
It’s worth mentioning here the exceptional performances by the youth actors. Shane (Stuart Naylor) is the sassy, but kind, cheeky monkey of the house, while Melody (Aria Trijonyte) is the quieter counterpart, perhaps feeling her mother’s pain. (Their parts are shared with Oliver Bowman and Maari Arnold Kent, both of whom made the press party – thanks parents!).
David Birrell as Danny – an ex-miner battling miner’s lung as well as the collapse of his band and his community – shows a real understanding of the forces that drive old men. He is in hospital when the ballot is announced and the miners gather below his room to play Danny Boy – intended to be their last performance.
Phil has taken up performing as a clown at children’s parties to try to earn a bit extra but, after Sandra leaves with the children, his mental health spirals. After the ballot, he accidentally calls himself ‘Coco the Scab’ at a children’s party, and later that day attempts suicide.
While he and Danny are both in the hospital, the nurse asks “Is that man annoying you, Mr Ormondroyd?” Both men reply “yes”, before Phil says: “Of course he chuffing is, he’s me dad!”
When Gloria tries to stand up to her employers, insisting they accept her positive report, she also loses her job. She organises a fund raising to get the band to the National Championships, which is reluctantly accepted. Phil leaves a note by his father’s bed before the band sets off.
A message of hope
Arriving at the Royal Albert Hall, their spirits are lifted by the announcer’s inability to pronounce the word ‘colliery’. Danny has manged to get out of hospital and arrives just as the band are giving a spirited rendition of The William Tell Overture, which wins them first prize. Phil’s spirits are further raised when he sees Sandra and the children in the audience.
As the band are announced winners, Danny steps forward to reject the prize, saying:
“This bloody government has systematically destroyed an entire industry. Our industry. And not just our industry—our communities, our homes, our lives. All in the name of ‘progress’. And for a few lousy bob.”
He goes on to say that what really matters isn’t the music, but the people, the lives, and that someone could feel bad enough to want to take their own life. Stirring stuff. (Jim takes the prize anyway).
The band’s encore is Land of Hope and Glory, and when someone points out “that’s the Tories’” anthem, Danny retorts: “Well we’re takin’ it back!” Huge uproar in the theatre.
The really sad thing is that the story is still so relevant today, 30 years on. The good thing is that maybe that means there is still hope.
I didn’t expect to spend the second act fighting back the tears. And I’ve still got The Floral Dance running in my head after more than 24 hours.
General information
Leeds Playhouse works hard to be an accessible venue for all.
Brassed Off runs at the Quarry Theatre until 11 July. Booking is available here.
Content guidance: The production is suitable for ages 12+. It contains a depiction of an attempted suicide.
Bylines Network Gazette is out!
The latest Bylines Network Gazette is out now. Become a Friend of Bylines Network or upgrade to a paid Substack subscription, and you will get access to a vital collection of citizen articles and stories.
Journalism by the people, for the people.
