A Review of the extended version of 97+ by Claire Kelly

I first went to see Tom Cain’s groundbreaking play, highlighting the injustice surrounding Hillsborough, last year. I was mesmerised and touched by it ; so was delighted to be invited to see the extended version at the Olympia Theatre in Liverpool.

97+ is a historical, educational play that really portrays the sufferings of the victims, survivors and families as well as the aftermath, including PTSD. A voice is given to the families of victims through its narrative, and it is also a history lesson which is sadly forgotten from our country’s curriculum. 97+ is written and directed by Tom Cain, from Southport, a young man whose grandfather was a survivor of the tragedy.

In Tom’s words,

“Our aims are to educate audiences on the truth of Hillsborough, and in doing so will prevent the slander that has been present at football matches, starting from an educational route through a younger audience. That has always remained the overall goal.”

It is encouraging to think that if the younger generation can understand Hillsborough, the blame culture on Liverpool can slowly start to be eradicated. Shockingly, to this day at football matches, “murderers!” continues to be chanted at Liverpool fans. ‘The Real Truth Legacy Project’ aims to do just this - a campaign to educate current and future generations about the injustice and Establishment cover-up of Hillsborough, led by West Derby MP, Ian Byrne.

The new full length version of 97+ came to Liverpool Olympia for one-night only, following it’s huge success and critical acclaim at Liverpool Theatre Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It is a two part drama with two extra characters added - Sally and Stewart.

The play is set in 2012. Hillsborough survivors John and Steve are still dealing with the trauma they suffered as young boys, now as middle-aged men. John bottles up his emotions and only exposes them to his wife, Liz, as he regularly suffers from night terrors but avoids seeking treatment from the doctors. Steve lives by himself but seeks help from the hospital, or the vodka bottle, as his only support mechanisms. They become friends and unite in fighting for justice.

Liverpool music from the speakers above the stage set the scene and mood of the play at the start. Voices boomed out over the theatre, “OPEN THE GATE!” We learn this is a night terror of John’s.

We heard a testimony from John later of how he unsuccessfully tried to save an unidentified young lad at Hillsborough . This brought home how traumatic it must have been for survivors and families trying to identify the victims’ bodies at the time.

The general blame culture towards Liverpool fans is much talked about throughout the play and also the continuous hatred toward the police who they blamed. However, Liz points out that some of the police who are now involved (2012) were not even born when it happened. The addition of the character of Stuart, a police officer, really improved the play.

There was an amazing scene where we learnt that the policeman Stuart had lost his son in the disaster. John was being interviewed and it turned out that the lad he had tried to save was Stuart’s son. He had a photo in his wallet which he pulled out and showed John, saying ‘was this him?’ It was incredibly moving.

The play also covered how witness statements were altered and wrongly labelled as being unreliable. For example, if the witness had had just one alcoholic drink they were deemed as ‘disorderly’. Which would invalidate their statements.

We learnt that many witness statements were even removed. I felt the anger of injustice which must have been felt throughout Liverpool. A line which impacted the depth of this hurt, was Steve saying,

“I wish I had been one of the 96 . then i wouldn’t have had 23 years of torture -they’re the lucky ones.“

The passion of the Liverpool fans for their home city and team loyalty is manifested throughout, with one line standing out “you never turn your back on your team!” The comradarie between the characters epitomises the bond that is evident between the wider Liverpool fans.

The addition of the grandmother was a huge bonus to the play as her character was very funny and added some much needed light humour and scouse idioms. I really enjoyed her portrayal of the character.

The props were very simple last time but clever; as all that was used were large wooden cubes, rearranged in different configurations to look like different items of furniture -such as a kitchen table, a bed, a sofa. This worked very well and also didn’t detract from the meaningful script. However, in this extended version, real items were used - a bed, a table and chairs but still minimalistic use. I actually preferred the blocks as it felt more modern and the focus then was purely on the acting and script. The furniture blocked the view of the characters unfortunately.

A very poignant line that stood out for me in both play was:

“People shouldn’t die at a football match!”

Throughout the play there was a wonderful balance of tragedy and humour, even more so with the addition of the new characters. The audience was one minute laughing, then crying, Tom is skilled at juggling both raw emotion and humour.

There was actually a Hillsborough survivor sat behind me at The Olympia who was noticeably moved and crying during the play. His wife said that all of the script was ‘spot on.’

He also came and spoke to Tom at the end and said ,

“Everything in the play was perfect and portrayed the full truth. 97+ is a real tribute to Liverpool fans.“

I would like to congratulate Tom once again for creating such an educational, realistic, humourous, historic, emotional and altogether outstanding play. It is a voice for the unheard and creates an awareness of PTSD. We now can begin to see and understand the suffering that has followed one of the darkest times in Liverpool’s recent history.

Despite countless setbacks, the Hillsborough survivors continue their fight for justice.
I personally believe that this play should be performed all over the UK and ultimately made into a screen drama. I would go as far to say that Tom deserves an award for his work and I still hope he gets one! The audience gave him a well deserved standing ovation.

In closing, the only words that need to be said, in true Liverpudlian style are:
“YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE”

Full house picture of the theatre, Tom with the survivor mentioned and a few on stage pics.

Review by Claire Kelly
clairekelly@qlocal.co.uk for community interviews, reviews and events coverage