Narrated by Corrie star Kevin Kennedy, Pretty Vacant, a play about punk and the new wave, stops off on its UK tour in Manchester on the 6th of February at Bridgewater Hall.
Irish born and Levenshulme raised producer Ged Graham spoke about the impact of growing up in a changing Manchester, a “breeding ground for creativity”, and how this translates to Pretty Vacant where he has brought his punk youth to life on the stage.
Pretty Vacant is a narration of the indie scene, with anecdotal references to Graham’s and Kevin Kennedy’s teenage-hoods growing up in Manchester, as the city was swept up by Punk and New Wave music.
From Factory Records to the Free Trade Hall, the new era of music allowed “children of Punk” the freedom to express who they were without inhibition or fear of judgement.
Joking about not shutting up, Graham said: “Punk allowed us to be what we wanted to be, to be designers, to be in fashion, to be artists. The scene was giving us the permission to be who we wanted to be.”
Graham also admitted to owning 68 pairs of Doc Martens – punk personified.
Speaking about his upbringing in what he affectionately calls County Levenshulme, Graham was passionate about being a Mancunian.
He said: “Once you’re in Manchester you’re a Mancunian and I’d never want to shake it out of my blood – it’s my favourite city.
“Being a Mancunian is having that sense of humour, that sarcasm, that cynicism, but with an intense passion for what you do.”
And it’s this intense passion that makes Pretty Vacant worth seeing – Graham’s enthusiasm for the project is inescapable.
Asking Graham for a synopsis of the story leads to a winding and enchanting tale of Manchester in the 70s.
He described the infamous first Pistols gig at Free Trade Hall as an explosion on the music scene which has ultimately shaped even the children of the children of punk.
For Graham, the best bit of the show is about this moment. Taking a guitar riff from Manchester-based Magazine’s Shot By Both Sides, the story dives into the musical turning point at Free Trade Hall with a Buzzcocks song.
Reminiscing, he said: “Even though I wasn’t there at the lesser Free Trade Hall, I remember the buzz in the city that this crazy thing had happened.”
Alongside producer Graham, Coronation Street’s Kevin Kennedy was a child of punk growing up in Manchester as the music industry was turned upside down.
The pair have worked on and off together over the last fifty years – they were in a band together as teenagers. Graham was enthusiastic about their collaboration.
He said: “It’s great to work together as more mature people, to work together and work on this project together.
“And to do things that we are passionate about. It’s really great.”
Kennedy and Graham have brought two different performance backgrounds to Pretty Vacant. Both have been in music since they were teenagers but followed alternate paths from there.
Kennedy’s acting history in Coronation street and We Will Rock You in the West End complements Graham’s multifaceted career of producing, writing and acting to create a show which is “abundant in creativity”.
Pretty Vacant is showing at 7:30pm at Bridgewater Hall on the 6th of February.
All images courtesy of Prestige Productions
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