Down Our Street

Written by Brain McCann
Showing at The Royal Court Theatre
12th April to 27th April

Reviewed by Jennifer Keegan

Down Our Street is billed as a musical celebration of the story of Cammell Laird, a shipbuilding yard in Birkenhead. Covering a large period of time from the industrial revolution to the present day, it focuses on one little street and its inhabitants. Showing events of the time through their eyes, it allows the audience a real insight into their lives, whilst allowing them to inject a little humour into the even the darkest days.

They play covers too large a period of time to allow for any real character development so the cast become little more than exaggerated stereotypes and they rush through landmarks in history. The best thing about the play was its relevance, especially the immigration and redundancies affecting the characters, lines about foreigners coming over and stealing our jobs could just as easily be heard in the street today and problems with unemployment are just as relevant today as they were in the 80s. There are cameo appearances from famous people who had spent time in the city such as John Lennon, William Shakespeare and especially relevant this week; Margaret Thatcher.

The music was thoroughly enjoyable and well written. Songs struck a chord with the audience and had them cheering and clapping along whilst roaring with laughter. A few missed lyrics were muddled through as were parts of the choreography, but a few shows should iron out these little mistakes and the audience was still forgiving enough to give a standing ovation at the end which clearly proves how highly this musical is rated. Overall a great local show!

Printer friendly page

Sorry Comments Closed