Writer: Nick Dawkins
Director: Izzy Edwards
Nick Dawkins’s A Manchester Anthem is revived at an unfortunate time when audience appetite for Manchester might be sated after the wall-to-wall media coverage of the Oasis reunion concerts.
At one point in the play Anna Niamh Gorman’s set, which builds a mood of transience being stacked cardboard boxes, reverses to reveal iconic Manchester landmarks – FAC51 The Haçienda, Afflecks Palace, Metrolink trams. However, the Manchester in Nick Dawkins’s script is more a state of mind than a physical location. There is a sense of a hedonistic last gasp of intoxicating freedom before moving on to assume unwanted responsibilities.
Thomas (sole performer Tom Claxton) is both exhilarated and conflicted. Raised by his mother, an astonishingly hard-working nurse, Thomas has defied the odds. Despite an absent father and a brother who slid into drug dependency Thomas manages to secure a scholarship to a fee-paying private school followed by a place at Oxford University.
Thomas now finds himself confused as to where he belongs. He is aware he no longer fits in with his childhood working class friends whose aspirations are limited to getting drunk and gobbling kebab and chips. But Thomas despises, and mocks the pretensions of, the upper class students at his school and fears the university placement will result in him joining their ranks and damaging his fragile sense of identity. In his final evening before leaving for university Thomas finds himself tormented by abandonment issues, imposter syndrome and by having his own prejudices and insecurities exposed.
Author Dawkins takes a non-judgmental approach to the characters. Whilst one of Thomas’s childhood friends is content to drink himself into oblivion the other is more thoughtful, acknowledging it is in Thomas’s best interests to leave them behind. As well as being crass examples of entitlement Thomas’s upper class schoolmates show surprising nuance- a rugby player being also a sensitive dancer, a posh house being warm and welcoming rather than sterile.
Director Izzy Edwards cheerfully sets the impression Manchester is one big night club, the characters in the disco are defined by the way they chose to dance. The charming opening has Tom Claxton in his underpants his bottom cheeks clenching in time to Anthem by N Joi. Plot developments tend to occur to a disco backing. Thomas is horrified to realise that socialising with his posh school friends reveals, contrary to his prejudices, he might have more in common with them than he is willing to admit.
Despite the quality of the script and direction the evening belongs to Tom Claxton. The technical expertise of Claxton assuming multiple roles is best captured in a confrontation between the alienated brothers. The drug-dependent brother is shambling, physically bent over and has a whinging tone of voice. During the conversation Thomas stands ramrod-straight, his repulsion apparent in his inability to even touch his decrepit sibling.
Claxton digs deep into the insecurities tormenting Thomas. Despite his sardonic observations- leisurewear originating on Council housing estates is now considered acceptable by the elite (albeit at twice the price) – Thomas is horrified by the possibility social advancement might cause him to despise his humble origins. For Thomas the ritualised dancing offers the opportunity to return to a more innocent time of life before hard choices had to be made.
A Manchester Anthem is an exhilarating examination of social class consciousness and the process of maturing featuring an excellent solo performance.
Runs Until 2nd August, 2025
