Gina is in a tight spot. Having thrown out her thug of a husband, she now has a loan shark breathing down her neck because her job flogging makeup won’t pay. Without any other options that do not involve exposing her and her daughter to violent men, Gina is taken under the wing of the local sex workers who might at least help her out of debt.
Written by Kay Mellor and based on the crime drama series which she wrote for ITV in the mid 1990s, Band of Gold follows the struggles of a group of prostitutes, seasoned and new, in Bradford.
The stronger half if easily the first. Mellor provides ample context for the situations that push women into prostitution and its supporting industries, but humanises these characters with detail. All of the women are in some way at the mercy of threatening men. Mr More the loan shark is the immediate threat which pushes Gina into prostitution and the other girls are no stranger to that dynamic. Rose has a history with drugs and no secure living arrangements so needs cash and a bed at short notice regularly. Anita, who runs the brothel, is dependent on a wealthy sugar daddy to exercise any semblance of financial autonomy. Carol was enrolled in the lifestyle at a young age and is trying to make sure her daughter is not trapped in the same trade that her family imposed on her. Forms of authority like the police, social services and mental health institutions are more a threat than anything else. What is very clear from the off is that it is all too easy to be forced into this career but a lot more difficult to get out on your own.
The second half shifts more into a crime drama than a kitchen sink one after a grisly murder. The weaker aspects of this section are not down to this change of focus though. The second half sees the characters exist in a world where the violence hanging over these women is now explicit for the audience. The issue is in the resolution. Things tie up a bit too neatly at the very end (which I won’t spoil), and crucially the revelations and closure that emerge are not the result of the main characters’ actions. For a play that rails against the lack of control these women have in their lives, it feels disingenuous to give them little agency in the ultimate outcome of the play. At least not without framing the end as an abject tragedy.
Band of Gold is a good show delivering the kind of realist drama that Kay Mellor is renowned for, though you’d be advised to concentrate on the overall journey rather than its end, which is a tad rushed. ★★★☆☆ Fenton Coulthurst 3rd March 2020
