Brassed Off

Keli

15/05/25

Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

Not so much a musical as a play in which music is an intrinsic part of the production, Keli is set in the fictional Anston (based on the real-life Whitburn), where the titular character – a motor-mouthed seventeen-year-old played by Liberty Black – lives with her agoraphobic mum, Jane (Karen Fishwick). Keli is doing her business HND and works part time at the local Scotmid. She’s also a member of the Anston brass band; indeed she’s their star player, even if she does find it hard to get to rehearsals on time. Bandleader Brian (Phil McKee) needs her there because the band has been chosen to perform in a national competition at the Royal Albert Hall, and he’s depending on Keli to nail a particularly tricky solo.

When we first meet her it’s clear that something has gone horribly wrong. She’s in the act of stealing a tenor horn from a glass case in a nearby country home. The last thing she’s expecting is for the ground to give way and send her plunging into the labyrinths of the old coal mine that runs beneath the property – and she certainly doesn’t expect to find an old man lurking down there, waiting to ask her some very perplexing questions…

Keli, written by Martin Green, began life as an audio play. In this theatrical version the music (also composed by Green) still provides a constant counterpoint to the drama. In fact, occasionally the score obscures parts of the dialogue, but that’s probably something that will settle in as the run progresses.

The combination of brass band music and coal mine closures inevitably evokes comparisons with the 1996 film Brassed Off (indeed, it’s even mentioned at one point) but Keli is a different beast entirely, a strange blend of kitchen sink reality and contemporary fantasy. While I’m not sure all the elements work – a lengthy sequence set in a sexy London nightclub feels oddly misplaced – there’s still lots here to enjoy. Black is sassy and vivacious in the title role, while Billy Mack submits a charming performance as the mine’s mysterious inhabitant, William. Olivia Hemmati is terrific in the twin roles of Amy, Keli’s Scotmid supervisor, and Saskia, a free-spirited woman Keli meets in a pub in London, who shows her how to embrace her inner self.

Set designer Alisa Kalyanova and lighting supervisor Hana Allan make the production look sumptuous – the evocations of the coal mine are particularly effective. Director Bryony Shanahan keeps the momentum bubbling as the piece moves effortlessly through a series of different locations.

And there’s no denying that the play’s final scene offers a thrilling crescendo as – on alternating nights – the massed ranks of the Whitburn/ Kingdom brass bands file onto the stage and let rip. Worth catching? You’re darned tooting it is!

3.6 stars

Philip Caveney

Pride 10th Anniversary

30/06/24

Mareel, Lerwick, Shetland

We reviewed Pride on its initial release in 2014 and, ten years later, it’s given this timely rerelease. What strikes me most about it now is how relevant it still feels, the same – or similar – battles still needing heroes to fight them. I’m fascinated too by the stellar cast, many of whom have on to even greater things, notably Andrew Scott and George MacKay – and also Jessica Gunning, who (thanks to Baby Reindeer) has recently been catapulted to wider recognition.

If Pride made me weep first time around, it leaves me in floods today.

I post my original review here and absolutely stand by the observations, though in retrospect I might be tempted now to boost those stars to a full 5.

14/09/14

Cineword, Didsbury

Set in 1984, at the height of the miners’ strike, Pride tells the true-life story of Mark Ashton (Ben Schnetzer), a young gay activist who manages to persuade a group of like-minded friends to form LGSM (Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners). They start to collect money on behalf of one particular group of strikers in South Wales and are so successful, it’s not long before the group meets up with likeable Union man, Dai (Paddy Considine).

He invites them to the sleepy village of Onllwyn, to meet the miners in person – where inevitably, they encounter resistance from some of the more reactionary inhabitants. But after a frosty initial reception, they start to find allies in some rather unlikely places…

Pride is simply irresistible. Cut from the same cloth as films like The Full Monty and Brassed Off, it features a terrific ensemble – Bill Nighy, George MacKay, Imelda Staunton and Dominic West are undoubted highlights, but the overall casting is note-perfect. While it occasionally plays for easy laughs (‘Dai, your gays have arrived!’), it’s never less than entertaining and also takes the opportunity to slip in some genuinely thought-provoking moments.

It would be a cold heart indeed that doesn’t shed tears at the film’s emotional conclusion. Like most ‘true-life’ stories, there remains the conviction that a little dramatic licence may have been exercised on some of the actual events, but nevertheless, this is a successful slice of drama, snappily directed by Matthew Warchus, wittily scripted by Stephen Beresford and one that manages to keep itself just the right side of sentimentality.

4.5 stars

Philip Caveney