In the mid-90s the UK music scene saw the explosion of Britpop where bands such as Pulp, The Charlatans and Elastica dominated the airwaves. The power of Britpop was nowhere more keenly seen than in 1995 when the titans of the genre, Blur and Oasis, went head-to-head in a battle to the number one chart spot when their singles Country House and Roll With It were released on the same day.
It became more than just a fight between two bands who were known for their disdain for each other but was seen as a duel between North vs. South: posh art graduates versus working class lads. The media seized upon the apparent battle for the nation’s musical soul and a legendary rivalry was cemented.
Author-turned-playwright John Niven has focused his attention on this musical milestone for The Battle, directed by Matthew Dunster, where we see the establishment of the bands’ growing conflict, key gigs and music videos, the moment where Mark Goodier announced the results on the Sunday chart show and the resulting fallout.
Walking into the Opera House to a playlist of Britpop hits certainly sets the nostalgia to the maximum. We meet each band on the night of the 1995 Brit Awards where Blur walked away with 4 gongs including Best British Group, infuriating the swaggering Gallagher brothers, Liam and Noel, despite their apparent magnanimous claim that they wished they could share the award with Oasis.
Thanks to some sterling dialect coaching, the cast settle nicely into their respective parts, with Paddy Stafford (Noel Gallagher), Brandon Bendell (Alex James) and Oscar Lloyd (Damon Albarn) being particularly convincing.
George Usher is very entertaining as the short-fused younger Gallagher, Liam, but through a combination of ‘thick-as-mince’ dialogue and cocksure posturing, often falls more into caricature, as some points even recalling the infamous Kevin and Perry sketch where Kathy Burke’s Perry returns from a trip to Manchester dressed in the band’s working-class ‘terrace’ style with a thick Mancunian accent, sunglasses and drawn-on beard.
Matthew Horne is reliable but feels like a bit of stunt-casting in the role of music exec Andy Ross; a role that exists to set up the premise of the play, with the decision to release Blur’s single on the same day as Oasis’ and make a few jokes at the latter’s expense.
The script is very witty, but things all feel a bit of a dramatic reconstruction rather than insightful dive into something that was hyped into ridiculousness by the media. Discussions on the ongoing battle come from audio clips from radio DJs of the time with 2DTV-style animation (and these sequences do some heavy lifting to cover some otherwise laborious scene changes).
But whilst some cultural references are peppered throughout the script it feels like there’s a missed opportunity to better contextualise the battle against other UK events at the time, where questions over class hierarchies emerged, following financial scandals, cracks emerging in John Major’s Conservative government and the explosive Panorama interview by Princess Diana.
The second act is stronger as we head to our denouement and then, as the revenge promised by Liam should Blur triumph is ‘realised’, we have a high-energy and stylish finale that takes everyone by surprise. It wavers dangerously towards demented fan-fic but injects a bit of much needed hilarity into proceedings.
Ultimately, The Battle trades heavily on the warm rush of Britpop nostalgia – those iconic songs, bombastic personalities and a cultural moment that still resonates 30 years later. But beneath the surface, it struggles to say anything especially fresh or meaningful about it all.
Whilst the performances and droll script keep things entertaining, the show never quite digs deep enough to justify revisiting the rivalry, leaving the story feeling more like a lively reenactment than a compelling piece of theatre. There’s certainly fun to be had but it doesn’t quite hit the high notes as a drama.
The Battle plays at the Manchester Opera House until Saturday 21st March, before moving to the West End. For tickets and info, visit www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-battle/opera-house-manchester/
Reviewer: Lou Steggals
Reviewed: 17th March 2026
North West End UK Rating: