The Battle 

Stephen HIggs at The Rep. 

If you are a fan of the emergence of Britpop, 90’s nostalgia, and some very top shelf, champions league swearing from the first minute, then the Battle is for you! 

 I went to press night at The Birmingham Rep really excited for the show. It follows the hype and chaos as Blur and Oasis release singles on the same day and are turned into cultural opposites: Blur as the art‑school southerners, Oasis as the raw northern lads. The play leans into the media circus, fan tribalism and the personalities around the bands to explore how rivalry, ego and class identity turned a simple chart race into a major pop‑culture moment. The 1995 chart battle hit right as I was getting into music, and this was the peak – and yes, I know I don’t look old enough to have been alive in 1995.

Written by John Niven, this sharp‑tongued, no‑holds‑barred comedy plunges you headfirst into the infamous chart war that defined a generation: Oasis vs Blur. Mathew Horne (Gavin and Stacey) stars as Andy Ross, the music exec who set the race to number one in motion, with Louisa Lytton (EastEnders) as Britpop party princess Meg, in a blistering new production directed by Matthew Dunster (2:22 A Ghost Story; The Hunger Games: On Stage). Horne may be the big name in the cast, but he’s surprisingly underused; the real focus is on the antagonistic relationship between Blur and Oasis that played out in newspapers and on TV when they decided to go head‑to‑head in August 1995

One of the standout touches is the clever use of a video screen to show real footage and imagery from the era while the set changes, which keeps the energy high and firmly roots the action in its time. The characters themselves neatly capture how we imagine Noel, Damon and Liam in particular. There are a few 90s indie in‑jokes that younger audiences may not catch, but I loved them. It’s funny and foul‑mouthed – really foul‑mouthed.  Twenty‑one‑year‑old George Usher is Liam Gallagher: the swagger, the accent and (more importantly!) the coats are all there, and his scenes with “Noel” feel exactly like the fractious relationship the press has defined for decades. The show also digs into the north–south divide between the bands and between young people of the time.

The Battle is a loud, messy and very entertaining night out: not just a nostalgia trip, but a sharp comedy about how fame and rivalry can turn a chart race into a country‑wide circus. I could make a load of Britpop puns here “d’ya know what I mean”– about how you should “roll with it” because it’s “supersonic”– but instead I’ll simply say: go and see it. You'll be “mad fer it”! The Battle is previewing at The Birmingham Rep until 7 March and then plays the Opera House, Manchester, from 17–21 March. Tickets here.

Photo credit : Helen Murray