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REVIEW | A Manchester Anthem, Hope Mill Theatre - Manchester
- Harry Brogan
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
AD | Tickets gifted in exchange of an honest review
A Manchester Anthem follows Tommy, a young working-class Mancunian, who has been accepted into Oxford. He’s the first in his family to go to uni- the first one on his street in fact. The show joins him on his last big night out in Manchester before leaving the city he loves, and disappearing south.
A Manchester Anthem is a one man show, performed by Tom Claxton, and written by Nick Dawkins. Being an hour long, it can be viewed to be rather short for a production, but the length is absolutely perfect, documenting the differences between classes well, and different aspects of Tommy’s last day in Manchester, and with what it looked like before being one of a handful of people within his school to be going on and studying at Oxford. Alongside its running time being perfect, the space itself worked perfectly for the material that Dawkins has written. The set is very minimal, but was adapted to show the different segments of the day, with the boxes being turned around to show some of the more well known areas of Manchester, such as Afflecks, when it got to the evening section of the show.
Another aspect I liked is its relatability. It perfectly shows the differences between classes within Manchester, showing those who are working class and are struggling to make ends meet, and those who are more upper class. As a city, Manchester is quite divided, and both Dawkins & Claxton have managed to highlight these differences within Claxton's performance and Dawkins' writing, being good balance of serious moments and humour. The more serious moments focus on some of the harsher realities of the working class, such as double shifts and the more humorous moments are mostly capturing the highs of the more prestigious classes, but also a few aspects of working class life, such as the start of the show.
However, I feel as if A Manchester Anthem was overall rather flawed due to the lack of plot. Whilst there were the comedic moments, and a good ending, the overall material wasn’t as strong as it could’ve been. There was a lack of character development throughout the show, with the audience only really getting to know more information about Tommy as an individual, in comparison to the other characters that are part of the show. Dawkins’ writing means that Claxton had to play multiple characters throughout the one hour show, with the blending of going between different characters often being confusing, leaving questions as to who he was meant to be, and how these people are involved within Tommy’s last night in Manchester. At times, it was hard to follow aspects of the show where both classes were involved within really close time frames, and some characters weren’t fully described, to the point where there was confusion as to who Claxton was meant to be performing as.
On top of this, there was a lack of props, which made some scenes more confusing than what they could’ve been. Even though the previously mentioned minimalistic set works, some little additions in terms of props would’ve elevated the show overall, and would’ve helped convey the differences in classes better.
Overall, there were attempts by Dawkins to create a joyous show highlighting both Northern talent and a thoroughly enjoyable Northern story, but there were a lot of contradictions throughout the show that led it be not as successful as it could of been. Claxton did an amazing job with the material he was provided with by Dawkins’ story, but there lies a lot of weaknesses, which needs to be worked upon if the show is to continue being successful.
★★
A Manchester Anthem plays at the Hope Mill Theatre until 2nd of August, before opening at London's Riverside Studios on the 19th of August
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