It seemed more than apt to be going to see a play about Joy Division on the first day of meteorological autumn, and the sense of pathetic fallacy was only heightened as I waited in the drizzle on a windswept hillside for my lift (delayed by traffic jams caused by a motorway accident) to Perth, to the extent that I even looked around in vain for a punctured bicycle to complete the tableau of Mancunian miserabilism.
But New Dawn Fades, a play premiered thirteen years ago and now beginning another UK tour is far from being a non-stop gloomfest however, leavened as it is by frequent flashes of humour in the accurate portrayals of the likes of Peter Hook, Rob Gretton and above all our genial host, legendary Factory boss and local TV personality Tony Wilson, our narrator for the evening, played mannerism-perfect by the play’s author, Brian Gorham.
The first half of the play successfully contextualises the growth of the Manchester punk scene in the wider history of the city itself, from its Roman founders through the Peterloo massacre and the writings of Friedrich Engels, with Wilson successfully navigating the audience through fast-paced scenes with a dazzlingly array of characters from Julius Agricola to Paul Morley, although those unfamiliar with the topography of the contemporary Manchester city centre may have missed some of the references.
Interspersed with the city’s social and political history is the development of the band itself, through the early succession of drummers, the change of band name from Warsaw to Joy Division and the earliest gigs and recordings. The play doesn’t shy away from the accusations of Nazi obsession to which the choice of band name and record sleeve art rightly gave rise, but the band narrative increasingly shares centre stage with the development of the relationship between Ian Curtis and his young bride Deborah (played sympathetically by the play’s Director Lauren Greenwood) as Joy Division experience their first breakthroughs, culminating in a reconstruction of the band’s TV appearance on Granada Reports playing Shadowplay.
In a mesmerising performance which closes the play’s first half, Josh Lonsdale as Curtis provides an impressively accurate live vocal and physical performance, dancing jerkily with flailing arms over the taped musical backing mimed by the actors portraying the rest of the band.
Overhearing snatches of conversation during the interval from those amongst the capacity audience who saw the band live in the late 197O’s or who had travelled hundreds of miles just to see the play was a stark reminder of the unique and enduring appeal of a band who sold a relatively paltry amount of records during their career, and whose tragic ending has undoubtedly played a part in galvanising all those their music touched.
The second half of the play begins with the portentous riff of the track which gives the play its name and whose title hints at the troubles ahead, as the play understandably focuses on the factors that increasingly closed in on Curtis, from the physical pressures of epilepsy through the emotional angst of attempting to reconcile his role as husband and father with his relationship with (the unseen) Annik Honoré to the mental stresses of being the frontman of a band increasingly in the spotlight.
As the play nears its inevitable denouement, it veers perilously close to jukebox musical territory at times (notably with the focus on the middle section of Isolation during the recording of Closer and in a touching scene where Ian and Deborah quote lines from Love Will Tear Us Apart at each other as their relationship disintegrates further), yet the writing and direction are never clunky, and the lyrics give an indication of Curtis’ state of mind to a modern audience hopefully more aware of the importance of men openly discussing their mental health than was generally the case at the turn of the eighties.
Gorman as writer handles the suicide scene sensitively, drawing heavily on Deborah Curtis’ memoir Touching From A Distance, with the effective use of a discordant section of Funtime from Iggy Pop’s The Idiot. After a final scene in which the rest of the band, Wilson and Gretton try to come to terms with what has happened and move on as New Order, as an encore Lonsdale leads the band through an emotional rendition of Love Will Tear Us Apart, with authentic instruments which will have been noted by the clearly knowledgeable and appreciative audience.
With a superb ensemble cast and a pace that never flags, this production of New Dawn Fades was over all too soon, and is highly recommended as it continues its tour around the UK throughout September and October.
For full details, see the play’s own website.
