1956 and all that

Look Back in Anger is frequently claimed as the play that changed the face of British Theatre. The first ‘kitchen sink’ drama, and the first working class hero in ‘angry young man’ Jimmy Porter. It was 50 years old last year, and has just been revived at Harrogate Theatre by Pilot Theatre Company.

Its an odd play to be seeing in Harrogate (or Harrowgate, as the man sweeping the car park at 11.30 at night insisted), the epitome of the genteel English town, and everything that Jimmy rants against.

So, what does it look like now? According to the director, it’s the 'Shameless'* of its day, and it broke away from the Noel Coward plays set in drawing rooms. Yet, in many ways, I think it’s more dated then these.

Jimmy Porter doesn’t seem real as a character. He’s university educated, and therefore privileged, even though his university isn’t even ‘red brick’ but ‘white tile’. He works on a sweet stall, and has rejected all his opportunities, yet he’s married to a posh wife, Alison, who he met at a house party.

It’s hard to find sympathy for his rants against society, and most of all against his wife and all that she represents, as he blithely expects her to iron for him, and make tea while he lounges over the Sunday papers. It’s also hard to find sympathy for Alison, who meekly takes it all rather than belting him with the iron or the teapot.

To gain sympathy from the audience, Jimmy needs to have something about him that makes you see why Alison married him, and why she stays with him. This was sadly lacking in Karl Haynes's portrayal, and he came over as a pretty nasty bully. Sarah Manton played Alison as very timid and meek, and a victim. The end of the play, as she literally crawled back to Jimmy it was painful to watch, as neither character seemed to have learned anything.

Cliff, the ineffectual friend, is Welsh in the script, as evidenced by all the ‘lovely’s’, but was played with a London accent, presumably because the actor couldn’t managed a convincing Welsh one – if so, why not cut some of these, as it just sounded incongruous.

Overall, it's another of those 'I'm glad I saw it' productions. But as a play, maybe it's time to put it back in the box for the next 50 years.

*which I wouldn't know, as I've never watched it.