Hull Truck has finally moved from its old, leaky, converted hall into the purpose-built home it was first promised 20 years ago. The new building, with its 440-seat main stage and 135-seat studio, is the physical expression of what creative director John Godber describes as his life-long mission to break down the barriers that put so many people off theatre: its glass walls and brick-paved floor turn the foyer into a continuation of the street beyond and tie it into the life of the surrounding city.
Godber's inaugural production uses a mixed cast of professional actors and youth theatre members to follow the fortunes of a recession-hit Hull family struggling to find cash and self-realisation in a world that's a "pile of shit". The action develops in a series of short scenes each introduced by a chorus of rock roadies around the set of scattered flight cases. Grandad loses his job, Grandma tries to salvage the recession-hit family finances by becoming a roadie to a sex-mad singer on her first European tour, their granddaughter and her mates practise their dance routine for a talent show. The result is a not-quite play, almost musical that sometimes rocks but never rolls.
