In Steel, now at the Park Theatre after its run at Theatre by the Lake in Keswick, Jordan Tweddle plays James, a Cumbrian teenager who discovers he is the unlikely owner of a mile of British Rail track — and, possibly a million-pound windfall. Suraj Shah joins him as Kamran, James’s loyal best friend, who slips in and out of a dozen other characters along the way, including James’ drunk father, loutish schoolmates, and an uncle who moonlights as a drag queen.
James’s frantic hunt for the missing rail contract plays out against a ticking clock, its relentless countdown projected in red digits onto a steel frame that anchors Simon Kenny’s simple and servicable set. The audience sits close on either side of this black-box space, pulled into the swirl of a small-town setting rendered in black-and-white floor sketches. Mark Melville’s effective soundscapes help anchor us in the play’s numerous moods and environments.
Director Liz Stevenson keeps the two actors in near-constant motion — twisting, circling, and sprinting through scenes — but for all the meticulous choreography, their connection often feels thin. Tweddle brings flashes of emotional depth to James’s confusion and hope, yet Shah’s quick changes are too often simply camp and don’t add up to fully formed characters. The piece seems overstuffed with story — family secrets, hidden desires, generational loss, the railroad contract, and a brewing queer romance — it’s an overambitious ask for a 90-minute two-hander.
The dialect, too, is a hurdle for anyone unfamiliar with a thick Cumbrian accent, though there is an undeniable musicality to much of Mattison’s dialogue. When the plot finally resolves, it does so tenderly: James and Kamran, realising their love for each other, trade the night’s breathless chase for a soft, lingering dance.
The idea that an early 20th-century rail worker would be gifted a mile of track is, of course, pure invention. But the play isn’t concerned with realism. Instead, it digs into what we inherit — land, secrets, trauma, identity — and asks whether any of it can lead us home.
Steel
By: Lee Mattinson
Director: Liz Stevenson
Designer: Simon Kenny
Composer and Sound Designer: Mark Melville
Cast: Suraj Shah, Jordan Tweddle
Until: 14 June
Running Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes, no interval
Production photo: Chris Payne