Some things never seem to change; topics of pub conversations being one of them.
The familiar scene that greets us at the start of this new Live Theatre production, which kicks off its 50-year birthday season, is of two men in a bar, enjoying a few pints and a game of pool as they talk politics, football and more football.
Writer Rob Ward is actually from Liverpool, a city which he points out shares our "passion for politics and an obsession with football" and he clearly has us well sussed. You could have been forgiven for thinking Newcastle United fan Len, played by David Nellist, was chanting about our recent Wembley hopes - until he mentions Keegan.
The play is set in 1996, a time when those passions were running just as high during the infamous Premier League season when the team almost won under manager Kevin Keegan, and old Labour clashed with the new.
Read more: Sting to join Live Theatre's 50th birthday celebrations this April
The impressive set of the bar, stacked with bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale and quiz and meat-draw posters, is where both worlds meet as Len banters with his mate Michael - a Sunderland supporter -and debates his chances of stepping into the shoes of the local Labour MP who's just died.
The set also becomes the scene of political debates when Len finds himself fighting New Labour candidate Victoria for the seat and then for intimate moments with wife Jean who wants Len to talk to her, about anything else other than politics but especially about matters closer to home.
And so we watch the four characters - all so well acted - switch between sharing drinks around the pool table to playing darts, taking seats alongside the audience - and even morphing into match commentators as Newcastle United continue to press ahead. There's more excited mention of King Kev - whose memorable words at the time give the play its title - as he is apparently sighted around the region, which adds welcome touches of humour to a story which wrings out real emotion as we gradually discover more about the lives of all four characters, and their hopes. And we know that some at least are going to be disappointed.
Well-known local actors Nellist and Jessica Johnson, who plays Jean, are compelling as the long-married pair who struggle to talk about a personal tragedy and you could have heard a pin drop when Jean, whose loyalty is pushed to the limits, gives a heart-rending description of what happened and again when Len finally reveals his torment over a dream he never saw fulfilled.
I also loved Jean's fire in standing up for the local women who worked to keep their families fed during the Miners' Strike.
They all have their struggles, with miner Michael (Dean Bone) out of work and Victoria (Eve Tucker) driven to succeed, clashing with Ken and wanting change just as badly but just going about it in a different way and happy to fit the New Labour mould. Secrets are uncovered and loyalties are tested but all basically want the same.
It's a relief that it ends with a feeling of hope. For some, this flashback to the nineties and what it calls 'Labour, love and the beautiful game' will be a reminder; for others an education and it makes for powerful and affecting drama. It speaks for the enduring North East passion and belief in better times to come - just as we saw quickly resurface after our recent Cup Final disappointment.
The debut run of Love It If We Beat Them, directed by Bex Bowsher, continues at Live Theatre until March 25. If this start to the theatre's 50th birthday season is anything to go, we're for a treat in the months to come. To book see here.
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