Written by Lee Mattinson and first performed at the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick, Steel centres around two teenage boys from the depressed ex-industrial town of Workington. They are informed that one of them is unexpectedly the beneficiary of an inheritance, from a distant relative, of one mile of British rail track estimated to be worth £1 million. However, there is a catch; the original copy of the contract for the purchase of the track has to be delivered by midnight that same day. This improbable scenario sets the scene for a frantic series of encounters by the beneficiary with almost forgotten relatives, and old school friends with whom he has lost contact. This leads him to relive parts of his earlier life and re-evaluate his relationship with the Lake District and realise what is actually important to him.
The play is performed by only two actors: Jordan Tweddle playing the central role of James, and Suraj Shah playing all the other characters, of which there were many. They both gave sterling performances full of energy throughout the 1 hour 25 minutes of the play. Tweddle gave a nicely nuanced performance as the rather overwhelmed James who experiences a whole range of conflicting emotions as he encountered his lost relations and old friends. Playing all the other characters was a stretch too far for an actor even as talented as Shah. He did this without any props or changes in costume, which made it confusing at times, and as he struggled to differentiate the characters, they sometimes became caricatures. His portrayal of James’s dad reminded me of a spider dressed in a luminous blue tracksuit. I think the play would have worked better, and certainly been more comprehensible, had several different actors played the other parts.
The action of the play was absolutely frenetic, with many short scenes blending into each other. Lighting and sound effects indicated changes in location but there were several times when I thought “what on earth is going on here?”. The speed of delivery also made some of the dialogue inaudible. The setting was simple with the audience on two sides of the Park 90 Studio Theatre. There was a small stage at one end behind which was a rather effective lattice structure which lit up as a digital clock periodically to indicate the remaining time to the approaching deadline.
In spite of the dedication and hard work by the actors and the creative team this was, unfortunately, an unsatisfactory evening of theatre.
Steel is playing at the Park Theatre until 14th June. Tickets available from https://parktheatre.co.uk/events/steel/#event-instances.
Reviewer: Paul Ackroyd
Reviewed: 13th June 2025
North West End UK Rating: