The Flood – A Musical at Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds

The first theatre review I ever wrote was for Leeds Living about a ‘thriller’ at Leeds Grand Theatre. The play was terrible and so I submitted it to the copy editor with a covering email saying that I didn’t mind if they didn’t want to use it, but it was my honest opinion and so I wasn’t prepared to amend it. I received a reply saying that both Leeds Living and the Grand Theatre were happy to post it as I had backed up my impressions with the reasoning behind them. Since that time I have continued to practise the same method. You may now wish to make yourself a cup of tea as this piece might just be the longest article I have ever written.

The Flood – A Musical, deals with the disaster which struck the small Pennine town of Hebden Bridge on Boxing Day (that is 26th December for the benefit of my many overseas readers) 2015, when it was devastated by, you guessed it, a flood. Being situated at the bottom of a steep valley and having both a river and a canal passing through it, the consequences of intense heavy rain damaged most of the properties in the town centre. The show’s intention was to document this tragedy and relate how the people both coped, and recovered from the experience by banding together. A very noble project, but one which totally failed to capture the essence of the place.

From reading my articles, I hope that you realise how much I love Yorkshire, the main reason for this is the diversity, with each town and city having its own character, whilst regarding itself as being part of the county. One of the quirkiest examples – in the best possible way – is Hebden Bridge which is unlike any other in the country, let alone the county, so I was beyond disappointed by the way in which it was portrayed in this show.

The set. Photograph by Stan Graham

The show is described in its publicity as ‘a love letter to a town that refused to give in to the volatility of nature.’ I’m just glad it wasn’t a poison pen letter. The Writer/Director, the appropriately named, Lucie Raine, felt qualified to write this piece as she lives ‘just a few train stops away’ and visited regularly as a kid’ and would later ‘meet friends for a coffee or catch a mate’s band at the Trades Club.’ She goes on to say that she ‘had close friends living in the town centre and (I) remember watching the news pictures with horror.’ I did some research and her Facebook page reveals that she lives in, and is from, Dewsbury: six stops, 22 miles by car, an hour on the train and several light years distant insofar as atmosphere is concerned. Between October, 1989 and September, 2011, I lived in Sowerby Bridge: two stops, 4.5 miles by car, 7 minutes on the train and still several light years distant insofar as atmosphere is concerned. I would regularly walk to ‘Ebdin’ – OK amble – along the canal bank for a pint, or several, in one, or several, of the pubs, and get the bus back as I lived at the top of a huge hill, which I didn’t mind going down to get to the towpath, but was certainly not going to walk up when the bus conveniently stopped outside my house.

I was wondering how I could best describe the character of Hebden Bridge and it came to me when the thought crossed my mind that Dewsbury had about as much in common with the Golden Gate Bridge as with Hebden Bridge, and then it struck me that, rather than being sarcastic, I was spot on. Although I understand that the City By The Bay has gone a bit downhill since I was there in 1989 and 91, and it is much larger than the West Yorkshire town, the recent history of the two places is uncannily similar. In the 1960s and 70s, the hippies appeared in numbers at both locations, spawning a new age arts and crafts movement giving them the village-like feel, which remains to this day in Hebden with galleries, independent shops, coffee houses and restaurants rather than chains. The gay movement also began in the Californian city at around the same time and Hebden Bridge attracting the highest number of lesbians per capita than anywhere else in the country. In the 1990s and beyond, both attracted a boom in commuter residents; SF because of its proximity to Silicon Valley, and HB being equidistant from Manchester and Leeds, which, coincidentally is the leader of the country’s computer gaming industry. The downside of the comparison is in the drug use, San Francisco’s history in that field being legendary, and the title of the brilliant police series set in Hebden Bridge and its environs, not called Happy Valley for nothing.

Sorry to go on so much but I feel that some background is needed so that you will appreciate that I was not expecting much from the musical after a minute or so into the first number entitled Proper Yorkshire Christmas. The actor/musicians singing and dancing their way around the stage in a ludicrous pastiche of what Yorkshire folk are perceived to be. I don’t recall whether there was a flat cap in evidence and I don’t have any production images to jog my memory, but there was just about every other cliché you can think of. The Musical Director, Joe Revell, although having studied in Leeds is now ‘based out of (sic) Richmond in the eastern USA.’ – Please!

The cast in rehearsals. Left to right: Katherine Toy, Jon Bonner, Ayana Beatrice Poblete, Mark Emmons and Samantha Richards. Photograph by Ross McFadden

From the opening song, it all went south, with none of the actors being from God’s Own County, presumably to reflect the commuter-based demographic of the place, although, if that were the case why sing the song in a mock Yorkshire accent. One saving grace was that one of Jon Bonner’s characters , had a pet cat – authentic Hebden Bridge – rather than a whippet.

Although the story was based on the experiences of Hebden Bridge residents of the time, I was speaking with a fellow reviewer and his wife who I didn’t realise lived in the town in 2015 and whose property, and lives, were badly affected by the flood. He told me that he didn’t recognise a lot of the events portrayed, such as the alleged looting and theft. The only character which rang a bell with him at all was the one played by Katherine Toy, an overzealous volunteer inflicting herself on people who didn’t need help. He said that there was a constant stream – no pun intended – of do-gooders knocking on his door to ask if there was anything they could do. It sounded like a general election being held at the same time as a Jehovah’s Witnesses rally.

With the exception of Mark Emmons who I saw a couple of times last year when he was with the brilliant Mikron Theatre – who do this style of theatre superbly – and Samantha Richards, the singing and acting was nowhere near up to scratch, although the musicianship was fine. The microphones were suspended above the stage making the dialogue too quiet on the odd occasions when it was not being shouted rather than spoken.

The set comprised several boxes, which were used as stepping stones in the flooded street, or moved around, seemingly at random, to signify the toil in cleaning up the place. Small, illuminated model houses were meant to show the town in all its winter glory but I noticed that they were all of conventional construction rather than having under dwellings, a feature of many properties on the side of the steep valley as, like my gaff in Soweby Bridge, there were more floors on the back of the house, than the front, but that’s another storey. If you thought that was a bad joke, it was a gem in comparison to those in the script.

I could go on, but I think that you have got the drift by now, in that I felt that this show fell well short of its target. I love Hebden Bridge and greatly admire the way in which they overcame the devastation caused, but there are many other towns which have been similarly affected over the past ten years and bounced back in a similar manner. The crux of my review is that, apart from the cartoon like opening song, this could have been about any one of them, no matter whereabouts in the country, or, indeed, the world they were.

By the way, in addition to the piece being written by Lucie Raine, the Graphic Designer was Hugh Raine and the Producer Storm Coulson-Johnson. Honest!

The Flood continues its tour until 17th May, calling at Leeds Playhouse on 14th and 15th. For more details and bookings please go to https://www.leedsplayhouse.org.uk/event/the-flood/

To see what else is on at Leeds Playhouse it is https://www.leedsplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on/

For more about AKA Theatre Company it is https://www.akatheatreltd.com/