★★★★

“Tommy is a flawed character, but the play he finds himself in is a pretty faultless portrayal of him”

If you’re a playwright and your closest friend is an actor, what is the best birthday present you can think of? A few years ago, Nick Dawkins hit upon the idea of writing a play for his bestie – Tom Claxton – who at the time was studying at LAMDA. He filled the script with “the things we loved, the music, dancing, jokes and in jokes” and presented it to him on his birthday. A wonderful gesture. But little did he know that just a few years later it would be an even greater gift for the theatre going public. Dawkins’ sixty-minute one hander is a compellingly written monologue, spectacularly well-crafted and wrapped up in Claxton’s engrossing performance.

“A Manchester Anthem” is a mix of autobiography and biography with oodles of artistic licence thrown in, which makes it instantly relatable, even if you don’t share the background of its protagonist. Claxton plays Tommy (and a dozen other characters, but we’ll come to that), a working-class Mancunian who has been accepted into Oxford. He is the first in his family to go to university. The first in his street in fact. The play charts his final day and night before he heads down south to begin his new life.

It is Tommy’s final shift as a waiter and, just as he is about to clock off for the last time, a couple of posh and privileged school mates wander in for their skinny, soya, lattes. They are a world apart from Tommy and, in his eyes, represent the world he is about to enter. It fills him with feelings of trepidation and imposter syndrome but nevertheless he accepts an invitation to a house party that night (spurred on by encouraging words from his real mates). What follows is a high energy tsunami ride from the coffee shop to the clubs, and through the streets, houses and people at each end of the class spectrum. From the moment we first see Claxton, elastically writhing to N-Joi’s ‘Anthen’ wearing bright orange underpants, we suspect we are in for something different. On the surface, this rite of passage story has more than a shade of familiarity. There are moments when it treads that path, but the observant writing is fresh enough to veer away from its own genre.

Claxton immediately has us in the palm of his hand – and he keeps us there. A finely nuanced performance, he slips easily into the other characters with subtle precision and expert timing. His supercilious boss at the café, the posh boys, the pseudo-socialist girls, his down-to-earth-bordering-on-psychotic mates, his estranged father… and so on. The various locations are seamlessly evoked, too, courtesy of Anna Niamh Gorman’s ingeniously simple cardboard box set that symbolises the packing away of an old life, but later transforms and lights up to evoke Manchester’s clubland. Sam Baxter’s soundtrack and Caelan Oram’s lighting set each time and place in stone, while Izzy Edwards’ masterful and lively direction leaves no time for anything to be set anywhere. It is a fast-paced production, but every moment counts – and some of the best lines hang in the air, frozen for a moment for us to relish, before being swept back into the thrilling momentum of the play.

Without being a social commentary, the show mirrors aspects of society and class divide. Tommy has more chips on his shoulder than the local chippie, but there is no anger. In its place is intelligent analysis, and a fearful empathy. The various characters are soft targets. The real victim of Dawkins’ writing is society at large and the unfairness of its inbuilt hierarchies. Tommy’s greatest fear is that of betraying his origins. The fact that these issues can be dressed up in humour is testament to Claxton’s fine acting and interpretation of the text.

The final moments are quite moving. It doesn’t end with a bang. Nor a whimper. But something in between which touches us with emotional honesty. Tommy is a flawed character, but the play he finds himself in is a pretty faultless portrayal of him. Tommy might fear rejection, but “A Manchester Anthem” has no need to share that feeling. A real gift of a show.

HAPPY ENDING

Riverside Studios

★★★★

“Corcoran’s writing is slick, biting and devilishly funny in equal measure”

Everyone deserves happiness, right? Cameron Corcoran seems to think so in his play, ‘Happy Ending’ – though it’s not necessarily the ending you expect.

This pithy, first-person, one-woman play dives straight into the life of ‘Ariel’, a no-holds barred sex worker who grabs our attention as tightly as she might one of her clients (!). She candidly reflects on her life and the choices that got her here with disarming frankness and humour. As the play progresses, cracks appear in her outwardly perky demeanour, until a pivotal decision snaps her blurry world into focus and forces her to confront a reality she would rather suppress.

Produced by Off Main Stage company as part of Bitesize Festival, ‘Happy Ending’ is a sharp and absorbing take on serious themes including sex work, psychological defence mechanisms and the slipperiness of reality. But it’s far from gloomy – Corcoran’s writing is slick, biting and devilishly funny in equal measure, punctuated by well-timed, incisive and rather racy jokes. The prose cleverly reveals and conceals. The entire show is in first person with Ariel confiding in the audience as if to a close friend. It’s never made clear who we are or why we are in her confidence, but that’s the point: we only exist as far as Ariel requires us to, trapped in her warped reality as much as she is.

There are a couple of writing elements which work less well. The ending, though impactful in its brevity, feels a tad abrupt since the emotional build up is much meatier than the resolution. Secondly, I want to dig deeper into Ariel’s motivations and history, but she never lets us in that far. Finally, Ariel bears the full burden of responsibility for the perceived negative impact she has on her male clients’ lives without exploring any male accountability, which I find frustrating.

That said, the direction by Anastasia Bunce and assistant director Isabelle Tyner is fantastic. Ariel addresses the audience directly with lots of sustained eye contact which I couldn’t help but meet. The chumminess of her delivery contrasts deliciously with the fantastical illusion she creates. The lack of fourth wall is ironic as Ariel believes she IS a wall of sorts (go see it, you’ll get what I mean). Pacing is used to great effect, racing through the more outlandish opening section as if in a rush to build her world, before pulling back and sinking into more vulnerable moments.

Helena Harrison sparkles as Ariel. She flits from witty to brazen to charming without batting an eyelid, landing her jokes with excellent comic timing and satisfying grit. The opening section is so slick, not a single moment is lost despite the rapid pace. Harrison knows exactly when to draw us in with a subtle pause here, a slight frown there to show the mask slipping, and builds tension and pain throughout the emotional climax. She perhaps could have brought a touch more light and shade to the emotional revelation scene for even more impact, but overall Harrison should be commended on a fantastic performance.

The staging is simple and symbolic: a bed and a chair represent fantasy and reality respectively. Flick Isaac Chilton’s sound design skilfully fills any visual gap, locating us immediately with vivid audio moments. The array of sound effects is impressively deployed, adding an almost dreamlike quality. There is symbolism in Hannah Clancy’s lighting design too, transitioning from bright, almost gaudy pinks, to nightclub strobe, to more sombre cool tones as the piece progresses. The costumes add a further layer of depth. Ironically the more authentically we see Ariel, the more ‘covered up’ she is, further blurring our perception of her.

Charming yet clandestine, raw yet regulated, ‘Happy Ending’ is a powerful piece of theatre in the hands of a highly skilled team. Despite my plot reservations, it’s a fascinating, absorbing and funny watch. I highly recommend getting to know Ariel – though you may leave with more questions than you started.

A MANCHESTER ANTHEM

Riverside Studios

★★★★

“Tommy is a flawed character, but the play he finds himself in is a pretty faultless portrayal of him”

A MANCHESTER ANTHEM

Riverside Studios

Reviewed on 20th August 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Flood Ltd

Recent reviews from this venue:

A MANCHESTER ANTHEM

A MANCHESTER ANTHEM

A MANCHESTER ANTHEM

HAPPY ENDING

Riverside Studios

★★★★

“Corcoran’s writing is slick, biting and devilishly funny in equal measure”

HAPPY ENDING

Riverside Studios

Reviewed on 11th July 2025

by Hannah Bothelton

Photography by Anastasia Bunce

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

HAPPY ENDING

HAPPY ENDING

HAPPY ENDING

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