Steel by Lee Mattinson. Park 90, 13 Clifton Terrace, London N4 until 14 June 2025, 4☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

Photo Credit: Chris Payne.

Steel by Lee Mattinson. Park 90, 13 Clifton Terrace, London N4 until 14 June 2025,

4☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

“Lost boys splendidly played.”

Plays can arrive in London hung with stars from earlier performances and Lee Mattinson's Steel, which started life at the Theatre on the Lake in Keswick with the same cast as here is one such play. James (Jordan Tweddle) and Kamran (Suraj Shah making his professional debut in the role) are seventeen year olds growing up in the  down at heel town Cumbrian town of Workington where the steel industry has gone deliver exceptionally good performances with Shah, who also gets to play the people James meets in his search for a lost family document which could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams, displaying great versatility. So four stars for the actors. But the play is another matter – at least for me. It is here on a fleeting visit for just two performances only which for all my reservations is ridiculously short – there is a lot to be gained from it quite apart from watching the skill of the performers. Their plight trapped in a dead end world, a feeding ground for Reform, who suddenly think they have a means of escape which may, or may not, be true but who discover their feelings for one another is undeniably moving. The escape is offered because James' grandfather had owned a stretch of railway line which is now worth a million pounds to new developers and he has a deadline to find the documents proving he owns it. Part of the problem quite simply is accents – sometimes they are hard to understand, some of the encounters, especially with the woman demanding the document, seem oddly constructed – there is a hilarious about being middle class which the boys cannot grasp – and interest in what is going on does fluctuate and you can feel an audience in what is an intimate setting responding in a variety of ways which can affect one's own response. But maybe part of it is one did not grow up in a Workington but then chances are few in Finsbury Park have either although in Keswick that would be a different matter. Maybe for Tweddle and Shah the best thing would be moving on to fresh challenges although it is surely not the end of the road for Steel.

Cast

Jordan Tweddle – James

Suraj Shah – Kamran

Creatives

Director - Liz Stevenson

Designer – Simon Kenny

Composer & Sound Designer – Mark Melville

Lighting Designer – Jessie Addinall

Movement Director – Mark Murray

Community Choir Musical Director – Colin Baird

Scenic Floor Illustrator – Emily Ford