This week, John Niven’s ‘The Battle’ came to Manchester’s Opera House for a four-night run on the home turf of one side in the war it promises.
The crowd on Manchester’s opening night were ‘mad fer it’, turning up en masse in Adidas merch from Oasis’ tour last summer. A disappointing lack of bucket hats but the parkas and northern attitude more than made up for it.
As the house filled, the soundtrack set the scene, with 90s classics from James, Suede, Inspiral Carpets and more and by the time the curtain went up, the audience were geared up for a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
The premise of the play is the 1995 battle between Britpop’s biggest bands, Blur and Oasis, for the coveted number one spot. Over the course of the play we are transported back to key moments and places from the time; Brit Awards spats, gigs at the Ally Pally, after parties at The Groucho and Soho House – and throughout, the dialogue and set changes are broken up with Beavis & Butthead-style illustrations on a big screen depicting some of the famous radio voices from the era; Jo Wiley, Danny Boyle, Chris Evans and more.
The scripting itself is bold – which you might expect from a play called ‘The Battle’ – but it’s also laced with references to the North/South divide, the narrative of working-class heroes versus the bourgeois and demonstrates just how big-of-a-deal ‘number one’ used to be in the nineties.
It’s also genuinely funny; laugh-out-loud moments that land obviously and one-liners that creep up on you a moment later. References to Shed Seven, Pulp and Del Amitri amongst many others, mean this was a great show for music lovers – regardless of whether you were team Blur or Oasis. The fashion references also work hard to place the action in a specific place and time, whilst the casting is exemplary. Paddy Stafford’s portrayal of Noel Gallagher is brilliantly juxtaposed with Oscar Lloyd’s Damon Albarn, while George Usher’s Liam Gallagher has you wondering how they got away with the scripting – at least for the first half.
There is energy in this play. There are no stage-hands, with the whole cast working hard to reset scenes though the set changes become increasingly more choreographed as the show goes on – a pre-cursor perhaps to the Tarantino-esque choregraphed ‘battle’ that follows.
The drama follows each band separately as they prepare to wage chart war on one another. Their paths cross a number of times, whilst individually key moments play out; Noel Gallagher’s infamous ‘aids’ interview and Blur’s music video for ‘Country House’ sending Graham Coxon into a meltdown about morality. However, there are subtle signs throughout the second half, that things are about to get surreal.
Liam Gallagher declares that if ‘Roll With It’ fails to take the top spot on release day, then the only action of a ‘real man’ would be to kill the opposition before ending his own life. Whilst you might think you could guess what happens next (and if you remember who actually topped the chart, you’ll know how ominous this sounds), I’d wager that you definitely couldn’t.
Upon finding out the top spot is not theirs, Oasis head to Soho House and chaos ensues. The surreal goes on to meet the ridiculous, but the humour is ever-present. From Damon Albarn ‘fencing’, to an almost-touching monologue from Liam Gallagher, a taste of Take That and Graham Coxon as an angel milkman, the play closes with onlookers smiling through shellshock.
In closing, the scene shifts to Damon’s flat, where Elastica frontwoman and partner, Justine Frischmann prepares a risotto (an in-joke by this point). A nice bit of dialogue where, in the aftermath of a seemingly meaningless chart battle, Frischmann declares ‘no one will care about it in thirty years anyway’. A chuckle from an audience who quite clearly, do still care and have enjoyed a raucous, slightly surreal but brilliantly energetic trip down memory lane.
Wonderfully cast, intelligently scripted and socking one surprise after another to the audience, The Battle deserved every single standing ovation it received in a packed Manchester Opera House.
Keep up to date with future performances of The Battle on the play’s official website
The Battle by John Niven
Cast: Brandon Bendell, Harriet Cains, Iona Champain, Billy Dunmore, Tommy Garside, George Greenland, Oscar Lloyd, Louisa Lytton, James Oates, Paddy Stafford, Will Taylor, George Usher, Mathew Horne
Director: Matthew Dunster
Set and Costume Designer: Fly Davis
Lighting Designer: Jessica Hung Han Yun
Sound Designer: Ian Dickinson
Video Designer: Tal Rosner
Casting Director: Claire Bleasdale
Review by Liz Bleakley
Photography by Helen Murray: website
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