Brassed Off stage adaption goes on tour
A former Brookside actor is taking the baton in a touring stage adaptation of the modern classic British comedy, Brassed Off.
John McArdle, who played Billy Corkhill for five years in the Channel 4 soap opera, portrays band-leader Danny in the current touring production of the show.
Paul Allen’s stage adaptation of Mark Herman’s screenplay, first staged at Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and subsequently at the National Theatre, comes to York’s Theatre Royal next week before continuing its UK tour, visiting the likes of Darlington, Sheffield and Bolton.
The play centres around the fictional Grimley Colliery, which faces the threat of closure, leading to the uncertain future of its brass band.
With the miners torn between redundancy packages and the picket lines, band-leader Danny’s hopes of winning the national brass band competition seems like a distant dream.
Danny has to conduct a colliery brass band fighting its way to the finals of a national competition at the Royal Albert Hall in London – and conducting is something of which he has no experience. But the arrival of flugelhorn-playing Gloria (Clara Darcy) brings hope, romance and controversy to the Yorkshire brass band on the brink of collapse.
The cast includes Andrew Dunn – probably best known for playing Tony in Victoria Wood’s sitcom Dinnerladies – and Luke Adamson, who reprise their roles as “Phil” and “Shane” which they originally played in a stage production of the play nine years ago.
In preparation for the role, which was originally portrayed by Pete Postlethwaite in the 1996 film written and directed by Mark Herman, McArdle has been getting advice from professional conductors.
Classic pieces like Hubert Parry’s Jerusalem and Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez will be performed live during the performances.
“All of the music that is featured in the narrative of the play will be played live”, says director Damian Crudden.
Brassed Off is currently touring the UK, including pit stops at York Theatre Royal (14 Feb – 1 March), Civic Theatre, Darlington (18 March – 22 March), Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield (7 May – 10 May), and the Octagon Theatre, Bolton (15 May -14 June).
