More than 40 years after it hit TV screens, Boys from the Blackstuff has been adapted for the stage
"Yosser is a dream role. It would be a dream role even if I wasn't from Liverpool", says Barry Sloane.
He said: "Yosser Hughes is a dream of a character for any actor to get the pleasure of taking on. It's a play so intrinsically Scouse that tells the story of a lot of our upbringings. I was born in 1981 and this was on TV the year after, so it's been part of my life always. Remembered for his catchphrases of 'giz a job' and 'I can do that', Yosser encapsulated the desperation brought about by high unemployment and the limited support offered by the state. Barry believes that the play has plenty to say about contemporary Britain.
"But I'll speak for Yosser Hughes, a man who bought into the Thatcherite way of looking out for number one and thought 'if I follow the system, if I come out of school, get the job and get the money, then I win'. Barry added: "The weight upon Yosser's shoulders is incredible but I think what made the character iconic in the first place - aside from Bernard Hill's incredible performance - is that he'll take the beating but he'll keep walking forward.
"I backed myself enough to be able to make it new. You are tipping your hat and admiring what has come before and that work but offering something else. "It's all laid out for you. Alan's writing along with James Graham - who has adapted it - is so brilliant that it's all there for you. Some of the most beautiful, eloquent, heartbreaking lines that I get to deliver in this - and some really, really funny stuff as well.
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