Our theatre reviewer, Hannah Hobson, shares her thoughts on The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff at Hull Truck Theatre.
The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff has a lot of the trappings we’ve come to associate with gig theatre. On their entrance, the company – the folk band the Young’uns – announce as they take the stage that they are not actors but folk musicians.
They set the scene by telling the audience how they came to folk, came to stories told by people within their community and how the music becomes a conduit for an oral history. It is on that understanding that we are introduced to Johnny Longstaff.
We follow Johnny through decades of history, beginning with the depression of the 20s, the rise of fascism, the Spanish Civil War and eventually World War II. The narrative is carried through the Young’uns’ music. They form a tight trio, with slick harmonies and simple instrumentation. The sound is folk to the core, accordion, guitar and vocal carry the score’s structure, with some help from the piano. It is a score which seems to sing out from the not so distant past, bringing a message of freedom for the ages.
The show’s staging is simple. Lorne Campbell’s direction makes apt use of stasis. He creates tableaus which put the music at the forefront of the storytelling. Ingeniously, however, this is backed by projection work which is at points dynamic, emotive and amusing. These projections, along with the excellent sound design, help ground a story which might otherwise become nebulous.
The tone of the piece is an expertly managed seesaw between humour and hardship. This piece never underestimates the impact of hunger, the struggle that working people have faced and are facing to survive, but it also elevates the power of hope and the desire to fight for something true and right.
The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff is one of the most original and moving works for theatre I have seen since we returned to theatre post-lockdown. It is a treatise on collectivism, a view for progress which looks not only to our own shores but those on the continent and further afield.
The show is joyful, yes, and, as it promises to be, is a celebration of the labour movements which have shaped this country. Beyond that though, it is a timely reminder of the power of individual empathy. That when one man chooses to say no to evil or to oppression, others will stand with him. Perhaps he will not win the battle but he may well win the war.