With a General election looming, A Manifesto for a New City by Northern Stage is particularly poignant. What would change if the power were returned to the ordinary people- the hairdressers, taxi drivers, teachers, nurses and even the poets? And taken away from the rich men in suits.
This musical, firmly rooted in Newcastle, like the company that produced it, addresses an underlying question in many British cities: How much of what we have come to know as ‘modernisation' is what the people want, in our world of ‘car parks, suits and credit cards', have we lost touch with the ordinary people, a sense of community and a space for personal creativity?
On a minimal set that consists of the bare theatre stage with rows of plastic green chairs, we see the performers one by one enter what looks like a large waiting room or meeting. The house lights are left on, bits of lighting equipment has been pushed to the sides and the stage is lit by florescent strip lighting that flickers and which the performers operate themselves. This all contributes to the feeling that this could be a meeting in a town hall or community centre at which we are also in attendance. In turn we hear the characters' feelings towards their lives and environment, expressing what it is about the city that makes them disgruntled and the way in which they manage to express themselves or find a corner of happiness in amongst it all. The characters- the poet narrator, the weary clerk, the blind man, the bus driver, the foreign businessman to name a few, are all recognisable ‘types', with whom we empathise and have probably sat next to on a bus. Astute direction by Alan Lyddiard and strong performances with great subtlety and attention to detail, ensure that, despite the nod towards stereotype, caricature or cliché are skillfully and perhaps narrowly avoided.
Together this collection of disparate characters come up with their own manifesto for a new city born out of the feelings and needs of the individual, based on comfort, whimsy and desire, and not in the interests of advancement or monetary gain. Under this revolution a compulsory afternoon nap is introduced as is the law that poetry be available in all waiting rooms.
The show is a musical in that it uses song as its primary means of communication. This is not your average all singing and dancing type of affair, but instead uses a cappella voices and ensemble harmonies to both invoke a powerful and visceral reaction. Act 2 does, however, include a clever and amusing pastiche of the musical or cabaret form, complete with disco ball and backing singers.
A Manifesto for a New City truly is political theatre in its most effective sense - encouraging its audience to question, rethink and perhaps redefine its values.
All this and neither a placard or spin doctor in sight.
