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Steel At Theatre By The Lake Keswick Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Jo Hardy

Produced by Theatre by the Lake as part of its Cumbria fest program and written by local Lee Mattinson, Steel is premiering at the theatre before touring the coast of Cumbria during October and November, details of the tour and links to the venues can be found on theatres web site.

This is a studio production, a smaller space where the audience is much closer to the performers, the stage is in the centre of the room with the audience seating at each side, the set is minimal black line drawings on a white background, a small bridge at one end and a raised stage at the other.

Set in the West Cumbria town of Workington which has become an unemployment black spot since the closing of the steel works. There are only two actors, the main character James is played by Jordan Tweddle who is from Wigton in Cumbria and has many professional credits to his name.

Suraj Shah plays Kamran and also every other character, he seamlessly transformed from teenager into tipsy aunty, drag artist, James’s father amongst others and I was surprised to read that this is Suraj’s professional debut.

James and Kamran are two bored teenagers dressed in shell suits, who are struggling to find out where they belong.
One night James finds out that he is heir to a mile of British railway, that is worth a million pounds, but he only has a few hours left to track down the original paperwork to prove his ownership. We watch James and Kamran as they dash around town visiting lots of pubs trying to find the all important document, they meet many characters along the way and make many discoveries. James finds out some truths about his family history, meets new people and tries lots of new drinks along the way (porn star martinis with a slice of boiled egg!).

The 12 hour dash told in 1 hour 25 minutes, and there are time checks along the way, is fast paced, exhausting at times, surprisingly emotional and very powerful, it has strong topics like homophobia and racism and will give you a lot to think about, but there’s also a lot of humour too.

I originally thought that getting a million pounds was the important part of the story but soon realised that wasn’t important at all it was seeing James grow from an awkward teenager into a young man and to find the love he’d always craved.

The song you hear at the end of the show was specially written by Mark Melville and Lee Mattinson and recorded by a community choir that was put together for this show and gives the perfect ending.

You can see this show at Theatre by the Lake from 3rd to 19th October,

The show runs for 1 hour 25 minutes with no interval, suitable for ages 14 and over, tickets are £18 or £12 for under 16 and can be booked here Book online – Theatre by the Lake

Rating: 5/5

https://www.theatrebythelake.com/event/steel/

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