A gifted young woman dealing with conflicts in her life is at the heart of Keli, the debut play from musician and award-winning composer Martin Green. Inspired by interviews with brass band members, miners, trade unionists and music teachers, this astounding piece of theatre deals with aspects of all these influences in a story that is rooted in history while embracing myth.
Deep silver notes grace the air and a tenor horn sits, mausoleum like, in a glass case corner stage. Amid loud crashing sounds Keli, (Liberty Black) finds herself plunged into an alien environment where a disconnected voice greets her. This strange, dark and disconcerting place, impressively created by designer Alisa Kalyanova, is what is left of the mine that collapsed many years before and was owned by the Snaresbrook Mineral and Coal Company. Since the collapse, a myth has grown around one man, Willie Knox, played by Billy Mack who brings conviction to the role of the educated working-class man of the past. It is his voice that speaks directly into Keli’s present, meaning she is doubly haunted – once through her bandmaster Brian, captured so well by Phil McKee, who is never done reminding her she is the next in line to take Knox’s title as champion horn player, and twice as a weirdly flesh clad ghost before her eyes doun the mine.
But no longer digging for coal, Willie helps Keli dig for truth. Despite chasms between their world view and their use of language across the generations, lies and hidden truths are exposed and thanks to some theatrical time slips Keli’s incongruous sparkly make up finally makes sense.
We see the stress of her juggling her job at Scotmid with band rehearsals and her adult /child role reversal with her over dependant Mum (Karen Fishwick). Oh, the irony of her being told to ‘take responsibility’! Liberty Black brings an authentic voice to the central belt Scots dialect used as she takes on the challenging role of Keli with a ferocious honesty. Rather than have her mime to horn playing, the effect is achieved by tenor horn player Andrew McMillan doing this immaculately in her stead while Liberty remains in character as Keli.
Karen Fishwick and Olivia Hemmati take on dual roles respectively as former Goth Jayne and Lady Snaresbrook and as Scotmid colleague Amy and London new best pal Saskia and in each case their strengths lean towards the Anglicised roles.
The performance from the Whitburn band was an extraordinarily moving and totally fitting end to this utterly enthralling piece of theatre that was so much more than just a billet doux to brass bands. Martin Green has not only composed the fine music, played so beautifully by musicians Louis Abbott, Stacey Ghent and Hanna Mbuya, that accompanies the story, but has created a witty and at times poetic play with a strong political message told through generational perspectives. Without a hint of the didactic, Keli is a personal history that is unravelled alongside a societal one where the metaphor of ‘controlling the pressure’ could not be more apt.
Keli is produced by National Theatre of Scotland and Lepus Productions and this review is of the performance at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh on Thursday 15th May 2025.
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 