(4.5 / 5)
On the face of it, Steel is about a 17-year-old boy called James (played by Jordan Tweddle) in West Cumbria, who discovers that he is heir to a small stretch of British rail, and if he can claim it, he will get half a million pounds. Him and his friend Kamran (played by Suraj Shah) are thrust into a treasure hunt around town, talking to various family members to find the contract in time. There is a lot more to the show than just this though. There is a lot more to unpack.
My pre-conceived notions about this play were a little off the mark, because when I saw the offer to review this show and the location as Port Talbot, with the timing of Port Talbot’s Tata Steel factory closing down, I thought it was about two late teenagers growing up there and the impact of the factory restructuring on the industrial town and its people. I brought my dad (who worked in Tata Steel in Trostre) to see the show with me on the basis of this. I wasn’t all wrong: it was about a steel town and its people, but the location and surface-level story were different.
The New Plaza (the show’s venue) is a community building, not a big theatre venue, and hosts a wide range of activities like films, gym classes, arts and craft events, and more. Walking into a small community hall room, with two small rows of audience on either side of the stage and minimal set, I immediately got the impression of an intimate performance. The floor was cartoon-like black and white drawings of a factory with chimneys and smoke, a town hall, a tearoom, and steel train tracks. A bench decorated in the same cartoon pattern sat above where the tracks crossed over, and there was a small stage and microphone on the other end of the space, and a structure made of steel behind it, which displayed the time like a digital alarm clock throughout the show. This experimental and budget-looking set contrasted with expensive and professional lighting, and computers and tech boards, who manned the speakers and lights. This wasn’t meant to be a big-scale production, and the locations on their tour were village halls and the like, so the set and atmosphere even pre-show definitely reflected this.
The show opens with James standing in front of the microphone, telling us how it started. The writing of the show makes it clear that they know they are describing and showing us an event, it’s aware of itself as a piece of theatre, Brechtian style, and it suits all aspects of the production, including the set, delivery of the lines, and physicality of the actors.
The lighting and sound throughout this production was so atmospheric and aided the acting in conveying the story and subtext. An example of that was at the start when they played the sound of an angry and impatient crowd with red lighting until James steps onto the microphone, when it changes to a cool temperature and the sound becomes more subdued. It also had beats which got faster at more serious parts of the script, until it got to its highest point before breaking off.
The acting was excellent. With only two actors, quite a fast-paced script, and lots of movement, they had to be completely present in the space and aware of the dynamic between each other, and you could tell they were completely in the performance. I thought it would follow each character equally, but it was mostly about James and his relationship to Kamran, not Kamran as a whole. I was initially a little disappointed with that, but Shah was tasked with taking on the vocal and physical mannerisms of many other characters in the retelling of the story to the audience, and because of his incredible talent in that respect, it made up for it. The only aspect I found challenging was understanding their lines at times, which I think was a mixture of the Cumbrian accent, not hearing them when they directed their lines to the audience on the other side of the stage, and the fast-paced nature of the piece. Because of the space, the sound doesn’t reverberate back, so at times, audiences on both sides are going to miss the odd line. Because of this, it was difficult at times to follow exactly what was happening, which isn’t ideal, but you can follow the gist of the story anyway.
The writing of the script was also fabulous, with an almost poetry-like rhythm to it, and other aspects of the piece complimented it. It handled serious topics well, but had moments of comedy to break it up, with many jokes and sarcastic comments that fit British humour as a whole, so any audience it goes to can understand it.
The ending mirrored the start and reflected the themes of the story, whilst also letting it apply to the wider world. There was significant character development, and James talked about finding someone who lights you up and about the fact that it’s not about the steel itself that makes the steel town, but the people. The play isn’t really about the end, but the journey James goes on.
I think every aspect of this production complemented each other really well, and it was a very high-quality show. The setting, lighting, sound, writing, actors, and the story had huge depth, with a story on the surface but a wider and deeper theme in the journey, the process of getting to the end. I would urge anyone who enjoys intimate performances, where the show encourages you to reflect on your own beliefs and views on humanity and the world around you, to see this show. If you can’t catch this show on its last stop in London, I’m sure it will be commissioned for another tour, so you’ll just have to catch it then!