Boys from the Blackstuff: working class heroes hit the West End

There is something strange about theatreland’s increasing interest in 1980s unemployed workers. The National Theatre’s revival of the eponymous 1982 TV drama transfers from Liverpool’s Royal Court in a superbly staged production, elegantly adapted by James Graham. Barry Sloane steals the show as the ferocious Yosser Hughes begging for work. In 1982, however, the theatre crowd was nowhere near Toxteth, and today’s Liverpool gangs don’t feature in many plays. It takes 40 years to create working class heroes.