Review: The Battle

17-03-25 Manchester Opera House by Fio Trethaway & Georgia Cook.

Previously performed at the Rep in Birmingham, John Niven’s The Battle chronicles the race between UK bands Oasis and Blur to UK No. 1 in the summer of 1995. What follows is a comical exploration of this North vs South rivalry, with Oasis as the working class underdogs to Blur’s middle-class origins, managing to slowly draw out threads of class consciousness, personal pride, and the empty notions of true fame Vs. personal accomplishment. Well-worn sentiments, perhaps, but explored with enough bombast, coarse language, and rising tensions
to feel fresh and (amongst all that) almost sentimental at times.

As a child of the early 90s, too young to remember the actual events of the Blur/Oasis chart battle, it took a little while to work out exactly who was who – though of course the Gallagher
brothers are easily recognisable. However, most of the characters were portrayed with enough energy and life to stand out on their own, and by the second half they had all slotted into
place, regardless of any prior knowledge of the two bands. Whilst every actor shines in their individual roles, George Usher’s filthy and indomitable portrayal of Liam Gallagher stole the show at every turn, which was incredibly impressive as this is his professional stage debut.

Everything from Fly Davis’s costume designs, Ian Dickinson’s Sound design and animations of real life radio commentaries, are placed to drown you in 90’s nostalgia, and the lively scene
transitions keep you hooked as we move from month to month, summer heat slowly creeping into tense scenes on the edges of the Pop world – in bathrooms and at award-show tables, on
hotel couches and in high-rises offices – boarded by the opening and closing bars of timely chart-toppers, but never quite making our characters seem the Pop-Gods of radio and tabloid
myth we know them to be. In fact, the characters often seem as bewildered by their own fame as they are motivated by it, as drowning in the light and sound as we the audience.

The story finds its firmest footing in its riot of a finale, the climax of which had our audience in stitches, but which I won’t spoil too much here. All I will say is that it was a wonderful blending of payoff and carefully seeded throw-away jokes, culminating in a truly wild explosion of absurdity.To round this off, whilst I do think having lived experience of the events portrayed in The Battle will lend one the greatest enjoyment when viewing this play, it remains a comedic, often absurdist tale, with a fantastic cast, questionable language and high energy throughout. A great evening’s entertainment for anyone even slightly interested in Britpop history.

Get tickets from the official site HERE