When Ben returns home to his father’s funeral after 13 years away, he is confronted with uncomfortable truths about the past, present and future of the community and the family he grew up in and left behind.
The City and the Town is the classic tale of country mouse meets city mouse, but with a modern and dark twist. It shines a light on the parts of society often ignored by the media and brings the class divide in the UK to the forefront.
As someone from an ex-mining town in South Yorkshire myself who later moved to London, I found it refreshing to have stories and characters I recognised portrayed on the stage in a way that is not typical when depicting the working classes in theatre. The writing is at its best here with how it handles the lead characters, they are fleshed out and complex, full of shades of grey without being too sympathetic to people whose beliefs are abominable and it doesn’t shy from showing ignorance on all sides. It allows us to see how people come to harbour such racist beliefs and the environment that acts as a breeding ground for them. It asks the audience to reflect on if anyone can be faultless and how the ‘elites’ ignoring and othering the working class has led to this state of being.
Despite the brothers constant arguing there’s an element of familial cosiness here that can be hard to capture and is greatly performed by both the actors Samuel Collings and Gareth Watkins. As much as there are elements of this show that are very dark it isn’t without humour, it’s laugh-out-loud funny at times and well-paced throughout.
The City and the Town is an important, interesting and thought-provoking look at the class and cultural divides in the UK and what we are and aren’t doing to stop the radicalisation of racist beliefs.
