Review: The Glee Club by Richard Cameron, Theatre by the Lake, Keswick

The Glee Club, Theatre by the Lake, 26th February 2022

by Ken Powell

Theatre by the Lake (TBTL) love to produce shows which are different and provocative. They’ve started the year with an absolute blinder.

Based in 1962, a group of Yorkshire miners (and one church organist) perform as ‘The Glee Club’ in the very same working men’s clubs they frequent and drink in. This is a close community and these are the very best of friends who work together and sing together. But things are changing, ;not just the musical and cultural revolution on their doorstep, but within the group themselves. They will never be the same again.

The production is advertised as a comedy and it certainly is funny, but that’s not its main thrust. This is a powerful, hard-hitting look at what it meant to be a working man in the late 50s, living with toxic male values in the aftermath of a bloody war. Be aware: there is nudity – quite a surprising amount – where the men shower as they talk through their lives. Such scenes are so natural, they’re brilliantly performed, but the unaware might be shocked.

Apart from this, there is considerable coarse language – you couldn’t have characters from South Yorkshire who work down the pit without it – but again, this is so natural, you barely notice. It possibly isn’t the time to invite your grandmother however.

That said, the music, is probably exactly of her era. Cracking pre-60s songs, performed in short bouts by the full cast, the upbeat, good-feel songs make a super contrast with the dramas unfolding on the stage; an ideal metaphor for the pretence, hypocrisy and self-hiding these men deal with every day. Their voices together were incredible. Such a sublime sound from talented actors. The audience were truly blown away.

But it is the deeply tragic stories behind these lives which is, by far, the most important aspect of this play. All six men have their own backgrounds, their own issues and, ultimately, their own crises to deal with. While one of them will inadvertently bring them all crashing down

In today’s age where women’s values and rights are being championed (and rightly so), it is a brave move to give a sympathetic look at hard-drinking men from a particularly prejudiced period of history. These are not necessarily men we would like. Certainly, they’re not men we’d naturally admire or see as heroes. They are full of faults, fears and prejudices we might feel uncomfortable with.

Yet, from the beginning, we see their other side. These men have culture, sensitivity, great love, loyalty and kindness that expresses itself in a myriad of ways. They’re all just trying to do their best – for their wives, their girlfriends, their mates, their mothers, their dead spouses or for the memory of their father. Trying, sometimes failing, to keep their world right. Ultimately, they are so very northern, working class – and I mean that with every ounce of respect.

Growing up in a coal-mining town in the 80s, I knew these men. By then, they were our dads and the dads of our mates. Sometimes fun, sometimes known to be grouchy or violent; easily written off as losers or just plain mean, The Glee Club redresses that balance and gives us a glimpse of who such men really were.

This is only possible because of the stellar performances by all six actors. Every single one brings their character to life, whether that be shy and introverted, or louder-than-life. Matt Concannon, playing the ever-loyal friend Jack, is gorgeous and enough to make this heterosexual reviewer doubt his leanings; but his gentle touch on stage is truly beautiful. Jack Lord, playing the troubled Bantam, is astonishing. By far the most complex of the characters, Lord gives a faultless performance. Bantam is utterly believable.

This is not an easy production to watch. Too young and you probably just won’t get it. Too old and it will perhaps be too much. But for the right audience, The Glee Club is a fantastic production to begin the year for TBTL. You will laugh, you might sing, but you’d have a heart of coal not to cry.

The Glee Club is showing at Theatre by the Lake’s Main House until 12 March 2022. To find out more call the Box Office on 017687 74411 or visit www.theatrebythelake.com.