No Surrender Reviews

Set on New Year's Eve at a rundown nightclub on the outskirts of Liverpool, Alan Bleasdale's NO SURRENDER takes ruthless, yet darkly funny, jabs at the situation in Northern Ireland, unemployment in England's industrial north, and corruption among the business classes. Arriving for his first day's work as manager of the Charleston Club, Mike (Michael Angelis) is faced with a complicated situation stemming from the outgoing manager's plans for revenge against the crooked owner. For the New Year's celebration, three somewhat incompatible groups have been booked into the club: Irish Catholic pensioners prepared for a costume ball; their longtime Protestant adversaries; and a group of helplessly senile nursing-home inmates. Complications increase when an untalented magician (Elvis Costello), a quarreling punk-rock band, and an unfunny gay comedian are discovered to be the evening's entertainment, booked as a last laugh by the former manager. The bizarre caricatures, combined with Bleasdale's witty dialogue, give NO SURRENDER its air of lighthearted mirth despite the seriousness of its themes.