“The Slab Boys” is the first and most substantial play in John Byrne’s trilogy. Set in 1957 in Glasgow it has been claimed as a landmark in the Scottish theatre of the last century. It was subsequently filmed but met with no great success in that medium. The slab boys work grinding and mixing colours for the designers in a carpet factory, as for a while did Byrne, himself. Often it is claimed as offering a wonderful insight into Scottish working class life of that time. I have to say that for me, with some shifts in patois, it would be equally set in successful set in London, Manchester or Belfast. It was very successful for a while on Broadway.
Although from time to time it has been revived on stage, it now most commonly met as part of the Scottish element in Scottish leaving examinations. I wonder how easily today’s students are able to form any sort of bond with the Teddy Boy era, with mimicry based on Frank Richards’ Billy Bunter stories, with performers of the time: Terry Dene, Eve Boswell etc.
Clearly colour is what the lives of the central characters lack and they manufacture their hopes with riotously funny word play, farce etc. Although the play more than captures the spirit of the time, it is not realistic and the dramatist relies a good deal on stereotypes and established tricks of the theatre. I laughed a great deal at the wonderfully exuberant and inventive antics of Spanky, Phil etc. There are elements of bullying, if not of cruelty, yet the sheer vitality and wit override these considerations in communicating far more warmth than sadness.
A final note. Some critics have made a good deal of the Catholic backgrounds of the main characters and seen important exploration of the RC/Protestant divide in Scotland and in Glasgow in particular. It seems to me that there is no more than a very hesitant gesture in that direction. It is never really taken up as a serious issue. In the last analysis, for all its faults, the play has so much physical energy and verbal effervescence that it is thoroughly enjoyable. Well worth reading – it lives on the page – and of course seeing if the opportunity arises.
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Bluecashmere.
Not a great play but immensely enjoyable. I laughed out loud many times.
Revisado en el Reino Unido 🇬🇧 el 12 de septiembre de 2015
william russell
Reference book
Revisado en el Reino Unido 🇬🇧 el 19 de julio de 2018
