A Review 

                                By Fat Marvin 

When someone suggested to me that I go To see Steve Thompson and Tom Kelly's musical, "Steel Town" , earlier this year I thought "Hold on a minute.A musical? Not likely!" Musicals not being my cup tea, you see. Well, after much squirming, I was eventually swayed by peer pressure and on 6th April 2000, I went to The Customs House in South Shields, where I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I liked musicals after all.

Very briefly, "Steel Town" is a story of the working man, told from the viewpoint of several generations of a family in Consett, Co. Durham, The Steel Town of the title.

Right up until its closure, this family, like most others in the town , relied on Consett Steel Works as its main source of employment and income. The show switches and blends eras and sometimes centuries, seamlessly as we see successive family breadwinners giving their lives to "sweating blood ...making Consett steel, ...Like my father's father, and his father before him."

From the opening "Red Dust Overture" a soaring guitar based piece we are taken straight into a very ingenious rhythmic representation of heavy industry with every cast member beating out a driving rhythm on various bits of steel in front of a very effective backdrop.

The majority of the action is set in the 1960's and 1970's as the Steel Works was nearing its final years. We hear passionate speeches and bitter recriminations at heated union meetings, followed by some finely observed and sometimes very funny dialogue , as the characters interact in the pub and the works cafeteria.

And we see David Henderson. A young musician who hates working at the Steel Works, despite the fact that his father John, the union rep, is desperately trying to keep things going. David decides to shake off the dust of small town convention, and escape on his magic flying guitar, to find something better. The fear of the very real risk of injury from working at the Steel Works is illustrated by David's dread of losing a finger and therefore, his only means of escape. "He's got a dream, stardust in his eyes.."

The show pulls you emotionally from one extreme to another. Some tense family scenes which will be familiar to most of us , very movingly performed , are perfectly relieved by some well timed comedy, and typically, another fine collection of songs by Steve Thompson. The highlight of the show for most is probably the song "Hurry Home" which was a top 20 hit for the band Wavelength in 1982 at the time of The Falklands War, and will be familiar to many of us old enough to remember the events depicted in Steel Town.

I feel that the overall message is one of hope in the face of adversity, as we are reminded that "Somehow, there is a Heaven."

Steve collaborated with renowned poet , playwright, and master of pathos , Tom Kelly on this production and both writers' passion for and affinity with the subject matter is apparent throughout.

I found the enthusiasm of the cast to be quite infectious and praise must go to every member for pulling it off so well. Particularly outstanding were the performances given by the four leading players, Darren Ali and Stephen Walsh, who play David and his father, John ; and Tanya Abid and Trasi Hartley who play their wives.

Highly recommended .

reviewed by Fat Marvin