Review: A MANCHESTER ANTHEM, Riverside Studios

As thousands of young people stock up on Ikea frying pans and instant noodles in preparation for their first step away from home, Nick Dawkins's A Manchester Anthem is a poignant, funny and touching portrait of one such young man's last night in his home city of Manchester before he leaves for university.

To a recurring soundtrack of N-Joi's seminal house track "Anthem", we see Tommy working his final shift in a coffee shop. He is packed up and ready to go. He doesn't have much money, but has split a large tip with his ungrateful supervisor and has pocketed a generous £20 note from his mum. What is gradually revealed is that Tommy is not only the first person on his street to go to university, but that he has got into Oxford and that his mother wrangled hard for him to get a scholarship to the local private school.

It's going to be a big night with his old friends Markey and Trouper until he is derailed when Angus, a previously hated classmate who has also got into Oxford, invites him along to a night out with his fellow Oxonians.

Writer Dawkins has created a thoughtful and funny exploration of class, economic divides and youthful identity. He shows Tommy as feeling torn between his old life and friends and the unknown world he is about to enter. 

After runs at Vaults Festival, Edinburgh Fringe and the Hope Mill Theatre, actor Tom Claxton embodies the character of Tommy completely. He has a wry, hugely likable attitude and looks totally comfortable with the easy monologue he gives as he interacts with the audience. Claxton shows us that Tommy is a highly intelligent and articulate young man, who also reveals deep insecurities about his place in the world and where he will fit in. Tommy sees his future options as binary and you want to put to a hand on his shoulder and reassure him that he will find his tribe and it will all work out.

As well as Tommy, Claxton plays every other character, giving them all a distinct identity. From his supervisor's insouciant studying of her fingernails; to old friend Markey's overbearing stance; to posh boy Angus's physical draping over his couch, it is a wonderfully precise set of characters. One particularly amusing scene sees Claxton showing how each member of the group dance in the club, gradually slowing down to bring out all the gurning, gesturing and attitudes. It's a cracking performance and very well crafted by director Izzy Edwards.

In a 60 minute running time, Dawkins tries to fit a huge amount in, sometimes to the detriment of the narrative of the show. There is a growing sense of chaos as the night goes on, which will be familiar to many, but some encounters with other characters feel a little forced.

The new gang who Tommy goes out with are one-dimensional caricatures of posh kids, with arrogant attitudes to match. Tommy's old friends may be unsophisticated (an inciteful detail is that Markey is described as someone who would piss in your pint just for a laugh), but they are an intrinsic part of his life and a little more background here would have been welcome. 

Although she appears only fleetingly, Tommy's mother is the most well drawn additional character; a "force of nature" according to Tommy, she works multiple shifts as a nurse, kind and sensible and ends up being the only one who can bring Tommy back to earth when he becomes too frightened of the unknown.

Anna Niamh Gorman’s design is sparse but cleverly constructed; towers of cardboard boxes are piled at the back of an otherwise empty stage to illustrate Tommy's move away. These are rotated by Claxton as he is about to go out for the night, revealing light boxes and illustrations of trams, street signs, the Manchester bee and the familiar diagonal stripes and FAC51 sign of the legendary Haçienda nightclub. 

Caelan Oram's lighting design works hard to convey the bright coffee shop lighting,  flashing club lights and the stark overhead illumination of streetlights. This is all complimented by Sam Baxter's intelligent sound design which relies as much on quiet as it does on the banging beats inside the club.

A beautifully constructed script, brought to life by a talented performer and some very considered creative choices. There is much to enjoy here and I hope A Manchester Anthem continues to have all the success it deserves.

A Manchester Anthem runs at Riverside Studios until 13 September