This hard-hitting story of life in Liverpool’s dockland centres on Patrick Casey, son of a union-martyr, initially reluctant but finally proud to assume his father’s mantle, and Maggie May Duffy, young and vibrant, who abandons ‘the game’ for Casey, only to believe she has lost him to his union dreams. Around them is a gallery of strongly-drawn characters: Willie Morgan, the corrupt demagogue, Cogger the ‘fixer’ and traitor, Old Dooley remembering past union struggles, all caught up in a drama with a tragic climax, and filled with the strong, earthy songs for which Lionel Bart is renowned.
Winner of the Novello Award for Outstanding Score of the Year the show includes bittersweet ballads, robust chorus numbers and even some Rock 'n' Roll, making it one of the most musically diverse British scores of the 1960s.
