So this is how we won World War 2...We bombed the Germans with dirty, germ ridden apples and made them all really sick. What do you mean it's not true? I'll batter you, pull yer hair and pinch yer face 'til it's blue...
Welcome to the world of horrid kids, gearing up to take their place in a horrid society. Dennis Potter's classic, Blue Remembered Hills, was first shown as a BBC Play For Today in the late seventies and has survived the ravages of time...because what it reflects hasn't moved an inch.
Here, there's bullying, blatant lies, racism, cruelty, fake news, sex stereotypes, the switching of allegiances at the drop of a cowboy hat, and some more bullying...Did someone mention Donald Trump?
The law of the playground rules, as seven kids go wild in the west country, re-enacting the ongoing war one minute, and warring amongst themselves the next. And the superb adult cast have all the playground characters down to a tee...
...There's Peter the bully with a brittle psyche (Ross McCormack); Angela, the brat with a baby doll and an eye for the boys (Roni Ellis); Donald Duck, with his burning angst, who gets bullied by everyone (Christopher Wollaton); John, the gutsy one who stands up to the bully (Scott T.Berry); Raymond, the stammering wimp with a heart (Steve Cain); Willie, the big fat daft kid (Steve Hester) and Audrey, the frump with a nasty, jealous little edge (Helena Coates).
All have their place in the pecking order, as grown ups play kids playing future adults in a kind of Darwinist survival of the flittest, with inter-gang relationships switching by the minute. Here anyone can be bought off with a jam jar, a box of matches or a go of an army knife.
The secret is to get an audience to buy into the belief that these are kids acting up, and this production does so with some sick, slick, nose-picking, hair-pulling, cry-baby, punchy acting by all, as Roni Ellis, particularly, becomes Angela, with the clothes, the hair and the child mannerisms off to perfection, and Ross McCormack doing bully Pete rather too well. But it's unfair to single anyone out – so unfair I'll scream and scream and stamp my feet – as the whole cast is scintillating, aided and abetted by a set design that takes the action into barns, forests and hills while the audience observes from two sides of the stage to add to the immersion.
Blue Remembered Hills should make you think about society and the insecure characters that infest it – but that depends hugely on the actors taking you there. This short production succeeds, with humour, pathos and kidult drama...And you'd better believe me, or I'll climb on top of you, pin your arms down and gob in yer eye...
Blue Remembered Hills
Saturday 15th September and then Wednesday 19th–Saturday 22nd; Wednesday 26th-Saturday 29th September 7:30pm
Salford Arts Theatre £12/£10
For more details and tickets – click here
The play is just over an hour long with no interval and is suitable for over 12s.
Review by Stephen Kingston
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