billy elliot - Arts Club Theatre Company

billy elliot
BOOK AND LYRICS BY LEE HALL
MUSIC BY ELTON JOHN
MAY 12 – JULY 10, 2016
BILL’S NOTES
SPONSORED BY
1
I first saw the London production of Billy Elliot
shortly after its premiere in 2005, as part of the group
of dedicated theatre-goers on our annual London
theatre tour. Many in the group knew the movie
upon which the musical is based, which was adapted
by librettist Lee Hall (who also wrote the original
screenplay). The impressive cast, led by the young lad
playing Billy, coupled with Elton John’s score, created
a memorable evening of theatre.
In our production of the musical, we feature ten
young people, including the boy playing Billy and
six ballet girls. Earlier this season, we featured nine
young people in A Christmas Story, The Musical and
five in It’s a Wonderful Life. The number of talented
young people in this community is truly amazing and
watching the two young men who play Billy—Nolan
Fahey and his understudy, Valin Shinyei (who will
do some performances)—I am astonished at their
impressive accomplishments.
Of course, we also have many veterans from musicals we have produced at the
Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage, including Caitriona Murphy in the role of the
dance teacher, and Warren Kimmel playing Billy’s dad. Both have appeared
together in previous Arts Club musicals, including as Mr. and Mrs. Banks in Mary
Poppins and the married couple in Next to Normal. One new member to our
stages is Matthew Cluff (a member of Ballet Victoria) as older Billy, who appears
in the “Swan Lake” duet with Billy in Act Two.
When the 20 members of the cast assembled on the first day of rehearsal, I was
struck by the equal combination of those who have performed professionally in
musicals and those embarking on a new stage in their young lives. Some may
never become “professionals,” but the experience of doing Billy Elliot will stay
with them, and I know they will be richer for it.
Enjoy.
Bill Millerd
Artistic Managing Director
2 Bill’s Notes: Billy Elliot
SYNOPSIS (SPOILER ALERT!)
Act I
The setting is Everington Village, a
mining community in County Durham
(in Northern England), on the eve of
the 1984–85 miners’ strike. A quote
from Winston Churchill emphasizes
the importance of the mining industry
to Britain’s postwar rebuilding efforts;
while later, Margaret Thatcher adopts
a firmly antagonistic stance against
the National Union of Mineworkers.
Thatcher’s resolutely anti-labour politics serve to frame the events which
follow: A group of disgruntled miners
sing about their plight and the rigours
of their occupation, vowing to “stand together / in the dark / right through
the storm” (“The Stars Look Down”). The news arrives that the union has
decided to strike. As the men sing, a group of “scab” workers enter to replace
them in the mines. The striking minors shout curses at the scabs. Two young,
local boys, Billy Elliot and his friend Michael, try to make sense of the situation; they figure that it has something to do with “Maggie” Thatcher, though
their understanding of the dispute does not extend much beyond this.
At the boxing class, it is readily apparent that Billy and Michael are not particularly enthusiastic about boxing, yet George, their instructor and a friend of
Billy’s father, insists that they get their money’s worth. Because Billy arrived
late, George requires him to stay after the other boys have left. Eventually,
George leaves to join the other men on the picket line. He instructs Billy to
continue practicing with the punching bag, and tells him to give the gym
keys to Mrs. Wilkinson when she arrives. Soon after, a group of young girls
in ballet tights enter, along with Mrs. Wilkinson, their ballet teacher. She
assumes that Billy is there for a ballet lesson, and Billy reluctantly goes along
with this, trying to follow the steps modelled by Mrs. Wilkinson and the girls.
Mrs. Wilkinson describes the pleasure, and beauty, of performing ballet: even
if your “life’s a mess / the whole process will coalesce /...all you really have to
do is shine” (“Shine”). Billy tries to give her the gym keys, but she urges him
to stay. After the lesson, she asks Billy for his fee, which he does not have,
since he has already paid the same amount, left by his father, for the boxing
lesson. She suggests that he bring it to next week’s lesson.
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In the next scene, back at the Elliot home, Billy’s grandmother is rummaging through his personal things. She notices a letter, of which he is
visibly protective; it was written to Billy by his mother, before she died.
Billy asks Grandma not to mention to his father that he was late coming
home from his boxing lesson. Although she has forgotten many things,
she remembers her late husband, and describes him to Billy as lazy and
often drunk—but with a charming romantic streak (“Grandma’s Song”).
Later, Billy speaks with a girl his age, Debbie, who asks whether he plans to
keep attending the ballet lessons. He seems unsure and rather conflicted
about this. Billy opts to attend the next lesson. He clearly enjoys dancing,
despite his ostensible reluctance. Mrs. Wilkinson teaches her pupils new
steps, as the miners sing about their commitment to the labour movement (“Solidarity”). Just after she dismisses the class, Billy’s father arrives
and is shocked to find his son practicing ballet. Jackie is angry with Billy
for deceiving him by pretending to still be attending the boxing lessons,
and also for participating in what he considers a feminine activity. Mrs.
Wilkinson tries to defend Billy, but Jackie responds rudely to the dance
teacher, calling her an “ignorant cow.” He forbids Billy from continuing
with the ballet lessons. Billy runs away from the class to hide in the loo.
There, Mrs. Wilkinson tries to comfort him. She tells Billy that he has displayed real promise as a dancer, and even suggests that he audition for
the Royal Ballet School. She offers to give him private lessons, and then to
take him to Newcastle to try out for the prestigious national academy.
After this traumatic incident, Billy meets with Michael, who is trying
on dresses and other items of clothing from his sister’s closet. Michael enjoys doing this; as he tells Billy: “get some mascara, heels
and a fan / pretty soon you will start to feel like a different man /
what the hell’s wrong with expressing yourself?” (“Expressing Yourself”). Still, he thinks Billy’s sudden enthusiasm for the ballet is “fooking weird.” Michael’s call to express oneself registers with Billy, who
has found a powerful medium of expression in ballet dancing.
a Rubik’s cube, a Star
Trek Annual, some baked
beans, a soup packet,
and the letter from
his deceased mother,
which Mrs. Wilkinson
reads. It is poignant
and warm (“The Letter
[Mum’s Letter]”). Mrs.
Wilkinson observes that
Mrs. Elliot must have
been a special woman.
the cast of billy elliot. photo by mark halliday
“No,” responds Billy.
“She was just my mam.” After this tender moment, the lesson proceeds,
with the amiable Mr. Braithwaite providing music (“Born to Boogie”). Mrs.
Wilkinson teaches Billy some of the fundamentals of ballet, and he catches
on quickly, confirming the promise that she saw in him. She instructs
Billy to be ready early the following morning for the trip to Newcastle.
Billy struggles to get to sleep that night, and then sleeps through his alarm.
When he races downstairs, he finds his brother bloodied, being tended to by
his father and other miners, George and Big Davey. Tony needs medical attention, but the area is surrounded by the police, who are after Tony. When Jackie
notices Billy dressed in his dance clothes, he forbids him from leaving the
house. Mrs. Wilkinson arrives, and Billy, upset, urges her to leave. She tries
to convince Billy to come with her to the audition, but Jackie is firmly against
it. Finally, after Mrs. Wilkinson exits, Billy insists that his mother would have
allowed him to dance. “Your mam’s dead,” replies Jackie coldly. A devastated
Billy dances furiously in his bedroom, as the first act ends (“Angry Dance”).
Act II
At the Elliot house, Jackie and Tony argue over Tony bringing a crowbar with him to the picket line, where the tension among the striking minors, the scab workers, and the police is evidently rising to
the point of violence. Jackie does not want his eldest son to be arrested. When Tony tries to leave with the intended weapon, his father
punches him in the face. Billy pleads with them to stop fighting.
When the second act opens, it is Christmas. George is dressed as Santa
Claus. The miners remain on strike, and the boys and girls of the village
sing a bitter holiday song about the grim state of affairs in England (“Merry
Christmas, Maggie Thatcher”). Jackie sings a sad folk song about a man who
will not leave “these dark, dark hills...until I die” (“Deep into the Ground”).
Billy and his father wish each other a merry Christmas. Later, Billy meets with
Michael, who kisses him. Billy reacts in a sympathetic manner, but tells his
friend that he is not gay. Michael asks Billy not tell anyone that he is gay.
At his first private lesson with Mrs. Wilkinson, Billy has, at his teacher’s suggestion, brought along some items that are purportedly meaningful to him:
Later, Jackie visits Mrs. Wilkinson at home, and asks her if Billy is truly talented enough to qualify for a spot in the Royal Ballet School. She insists that
4 Bill’s Notes: Billy Elliot
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he has a legitimate shot, and that it is not yet too late, as there is another
audition in London. But it will be expensive, and Jackie, at present, lacks the
money for a bus ticket to London, much less the cost of Billy attending the
school. Consequently, Jackie, having experienced a change of heart regarding
Billy’s involvement with the ballet, returns to work in the mine, despite the
strike. Tony is horrified to see his father crossing the picket line. Father and
son argue about this decision, and what it might mean for Billy (“He Could Be
a Star”). Moved by Jackie’s words, the other minors contribute money so that
Billy can afford the trip to London. Finally—with the help of one of the scab
workers—they pool together just enough money.
Jackie accompanies Billy to London. He is out of his element there, but supportive of his son’s ambitions. The audition is impersonal and brief, consisting of Billy demonstrating some ballet steps and positions before a panel of
judges. It does not go particularly well, but before Billy leaves, a panelist asks
him what it feels like when he is dancing. With palpable passion, Billy effuses
at length about how dancing makes him feel truly free (“Electricity”).
Back in the village, everyone is eager to receive news of the audition. They are
all rooting for Billy to be accepted at the ballet school. A letter from the school
arrives while Billy is out; Jackie, Tony, and Grandma are tempted to open it,
but they decide to wait for Billy. When Billy arrives and opens the letter, he
claims that he has been rejected. Then Tony reads the letter, and announces
excitedly that Billy did, in fact, get into the school. At the same time, news
arrives that the miners’ strike has ended, with the union having caved to the
government. The miners, ambivalent about returning to work under these
circumstances, congratulate Billy, who is himself ambivalent about his future.
He confesses to his grandmother that he is scared, but she insists that he
must seize upon this extraordinary opportunity.
Billy attends one more class with Mrs. Wilkinson, whom he thanks sincerely
for all the help that she has provided. She wishes him luck in London. At
home, Billy tells the ghost of his mother goodbye, knowing that he will
probably not see her again (“The Letter [Billy’s Reply]”). Finally, Billy and
Michael exchange their farewells. Billy gives his friend a kiss before he exits.
Michael watches him depart, as the play ends.
CHARACTERS
Billy Elliot
An 11-year-old boy, living with his father, older brother, and grandmother in
the mining community of Everington Village, County Durham, England.
Jackie Elliot
Billy’s father, a coal miner, a stern but loving parent, struggling to raise and
provide for Billy after the death of his wife.
Tony Elliot
Billy’s hot-headed older brother, who works alongside his father in the
local mine.
Grandma
Billy’s grandmother, a somewhat senile older woman looked after by Jackie,
Tony, and Billy.
Mum
The ghost of Billy’s mother, who periodically appears to her son.
Michael
Billy’s closest friend, who secretly enjoys cross-dressing in his
sister’s clothing.
Mrs. Wilkinson
The local ballet instructor, a middle-class woman; she at first seems prickly,
but proves a warm mentor, taking Billy under her wing.
Debbie
A girl Billy’s age, Mrs. Wilkinson’s daughter and one of the participants in the
ballet class.
George
A miner who also serves as the local boxing coach.
Big Davey
A miner and friend to Jackie and Tony.
Mr. Braithwaite
A local musician, sometimes providing musical accompaniment at Mrs.
Wilkinson’s ballet classes.
6 Bill’s Notes: Billy Elliot
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MUSICAL NUMBERS
DANCING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT: THE EVOLUTION OF BILLY ELLIOT
Act I
Act II
“The Stars Look Down”
“Shine”
“Grandma’s Song”
“Solidarity”
“Expressing Yourself”
“The Letter (Mum’s Letter)”
“Born to Boogie”
“Angry Dance”
“Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher”
“Deep Into the Ground”
“Swan Lake”
“He Could Be a Star”
“Electricity”
“Once We Were Kings”
“The Letter (Billy’s Reply)”
“Finale”
ABOUT THE CREATORS
Lee Hall is a prolific English playwright and
screenwriter. Hall was born in Newcastle upon
Tyne, Northumberland, UK, in 1966. He studied
English at the University of Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam
College before making his debut as a playwright
with Spoonface Steinberg, performed on BBC Radio
4. In 2001, Hall earned an Academy nomination for
writing the original screenplay for Billy Elliot. Later,
he adapted the successful film for the stage, writing the book and lyrics for
Billy Elliot the Musical, for which he received the 2009 Tony Award for Best Book
of a Musical. In addition to Billy Elliot, Hall’s works for the theatre include
Cooking with Elvis (1999), Two’s Company (2005), The Pitmen Painters (2007),
and Shakespeare in Love (2014).
Elton John is one of the most successful and popular
singer-songwriters in all of popular music. Born in
Pinner, Middlesex, UK, in 1947, John has recorded
more than fifty top 40 hits and won six Grammy
Awards. His best-selling albums include Madman
Across the Water (1971), Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the
Piano Player (1973), and Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road
(1973). In 1995, John received the Academy Award
for Best Original Song for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” from The Lion King.
He won a Tony Award for composing the music for Aida (2000), and
nominations for his work on The Lion King (1998) and Billy Elliot.
8 Bill’s Notes: Billy Elliot
Billy Elliot, the stage musical, was adapted from a 2000 film, a surprise hit that
earned three Oscar nominations and won the awards for Best British Film,
Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role from the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Yet, the origins of Billy Elliot long
precede the well-known film of the same name. As screenwriter and playwright
Lee Hall recalls, “[In 1974] every Saturday afternoon I would jump up and down
on my granny’s bed listening to 45s of Marc Bolan, Elton John and the New
Seekers which I played on a gramophone the size of a sideboard. From out of
the window, I can see the miles of factories which within 20 years will all be
closed.” It is from this childhood memory that he traces the early roots of Billy
Elliot. A quarter-century later, this episode would prove to inform the colourful,
indelible scene of an angry Billy dancing in his bedroom, amidst the black-andwhite milieu of industrial England. And, though Hall could not have predicted it
in 1974, Elton John himself would ultimately serve as an important collaborator
in bringing Billy Elliot to the stage.
In 1995, Hall pitched two ideas to George Faber, an executive at BBC Films. One
of these projects centered on a boy who wanted to be a dancer. The other was
a romantic comedy. Although both projects were commissioned by Faber, the
latter was ordered first—putting the eventual Billy Elliot on the back-burner. Two
years later, the script about the aspiring young dancer was long overdue, yet, as
Hall remembers, “Although I ha[d] not written a word I hear[d] myself telling [a
producer] I am nearly finished and will get the completed script to him in three
weeks.” Hall wrote furiously, and ultimately wrote too much, delivering a script
that was considered over-length. Otherwise, the executives in London were
enthusiastic about Hall’s screenplay.
As Hall worked to shorten and streamline the script, he experienced what he
has since termed a “eureka moment”: “I realise[d] that the whole piece is really
about loss. The loss of a culture, an industry, a whole way of life needed to find
an emotional correlative within the story. So I rushed off home to kill Billy’s
mum, convinced that the film would be in pre-production in a matter of weeks.”
With this vital realization, and his subsequent alterations to the script, Hall’s
story about a boy aspiring to be a dancer was made, at once, more poignant
and more expansive. It became a portrait of a key moment in the UK’s postwar
evolution.
Nevertheless, Hall’s re-tailored script did not immediately inspire interest
among prospective directors, and the higher-ups at the BBC were similarly
lukewarm on the project. The curious, dual subject—a young, male ballet
dancer and the notorious coal miners’ strike—caused some concern that the
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film would struggle to find an audience. Finally, Stephen Daldry agreed to direct
the film. Daldry, who assured Hall that he had written a “perfect script,” brought
Working Title Films and the Lottery Fund on board to work with the BBC in
financing and producing Billy Elliot.
With the production set to begin in 1999, Daldry and Hall had everything in
order—except a Billy Elliot, a young actor distinctly suited to play the title role.
After many hours of auditions and viewing of tapes, they spotted Jamie Bell.
Bell, from Billingham, County Durham, had studied ballet with his sister, and
had taken classes in the performing arts at the Stagecoach Theatre Arts. Bell’s
unique combination of skills, coupled with his natural charms, won him the lead
role, ahead of more than 2,000 other young actors trying out for the part.
While Everington Village, the film’s setting, is fictional, Billy Elliot was principally
shot in a similar locale: Easington, in County Durham. Here, local miners served
as extras, though, pointedly, they refused to play police offers. The wounds
inflicted during the period represented in the film still cut deep. “The legacy of
the strike and its failure seem[ed] alive and profound,” remembers Hall.
Billy Elliot premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2000. Hall and
Daldry were bracing for a negative response, as reactions at Cannes are often
extreme in nature; critics and audience members sometimes loudly ‘boo’ films
that they dislike. Their fears, however, were entirely unfounded. The film was
warmly received, with Bell “carried along the Croisette on the shoulders of
weeping journalists.” This initial, passionate response foreshadowed the film’s
later embrace by audiences worldwide and its triumphant success with major
awards bodies in the UK and the United States.
Among the appreciative Cannes audience was none other than Elton John,
who had once provided the soundtrack for a young Lee Hall dancing on his
grandmother’s bed. John loved the film, and connected deeply to its story. He
recalls, “My response...was profound. The story of young Billy, a gifted workingclass boy with artistic ambitions seemingly beyond his reach, had so many
parallels to my own childhood. Like Billy, the opportunity to express myself
artistically was a passport to a better, more fulfilling life. As a child, I dreamt of a
career in music, escaping into my treasured record collection for inspiration and
hope...To see Billy’s family rally behind his artistic gift moved me to tears. By the
screening’s end, the audience response was overwhelming. As Jamie Bell took a
glorious victory lap around the cinema, I had to be helped up the aisle, sobbing.
The film had really got under my skin.”
At Cannes, John immediately contacted Daldry about the prospect of adapting
Billy Elliot for the stage as a musical. This project would soon come to fruition,
10 Bill’s Notes: Billy Elliot
with John writing the music to accompany Hall’s book and lyrics. The musical
premiered at the Tyne Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne. Shortly thereafter,
it made its West End premiere at the Victoria Theatre. Daldry reprised his
role as director, while John’s husband, David Furnish, produced the play in
collaboration with Working Title and Old Vic Productions. The musical attracted
audiences in droves and earned glowing reviews from critics; Charles Spencer,
reviewing the production for the Daily Telegraph, went so far as to declare Billy
Elliot “the greatest British musical I have ever seen.”
From London, Billy Elliot proceeded to successful productions in Sydney
and Melbourne, Australia. In 2008, it premiered at the Imperial Theatre on
Broadway, and the following year it was nominated for 15 Tony Awards, tying
the record for the most nominations bestowed upon a musical. Billy Elliot took
home 10 of those awards, including Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical.
The success of Billy Elliot, the film and the musical, can be largely attributed
to the sense of genuine inspiration and uplift its narrative delivers. As Hall
observes, “[I]n the bravery, sensitivity, and pure glee and energy of the boys I
think there is a poignant image that there is hope for our future, that we can
achieve extraordinary things if we all put our minds to it, and that we can find it
here within our own society if we are willing to dig deep enough for it.” It is no
doubt this rare quality that has attracted countless movie- and theatre-goers to
a humble story about a boy dreaming of being a ballet dancer and a workingclass community of coal miners banding together in solidarity.
HARD TIMES: THE MARGARET THATCHER ERA
IN NORTHERN ENGLAND
Assessing the Margaret Thatcher era, and, in particular, its impact on Northern
England, the iconoclastic pop singer Morrisey recently wrote, “She create[d]
more social unrest throughout England than ha[d] ever been known—major
cities ablaze everywhere as Thatcher turn[ed] the police onto the British people.
Every public address by Thatcher [was] a swamp of tormented revenge and
madness, with never once a gesture of understanding or kindness...Thatcher
refused to consider compassionate change, and her demonic influence thr[ew]
further shadows across the now lost soul of England.” Although Morrissey’s
scathing evaluation of Thatcher may seem like vitriolic hyperbole—especially
situated alongside the more appreciative remarks offered following her death in
2013—the anger and sense of deep unrest in his statement is sharply reflected
in Billy Elliot, set during the UK miners’ strike of 1984–85. In fact, Morrissey’s
description of violent confrontations between the police and workers, and the
“now lost soul of England,” might well serve as an accurate summary of
Billy Elliot’s plot points and major themes.
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As one recent article claims, “Britain changed more in the 1980s than in almost
any recent decade.” This seismic shift is suggested at the outset of the musical,
as Winston Churchill’s quotation about British industry and postwar rebuilding
transitions abruptly to Thatcher’s antagonistic approach to British labourers.
Thatcher took office as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1979, a
position she maintained until 1990. In the intervening years, the UK changed
in ways that largely mirrored the rightward shift of the United States during the
presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981–89): in both states, this period was marked
by an increased emphasis on large-scale private business and the weakening,
or disintegration, of once-robust blue-collar industries. Thatcher’s Britain also
saw catastrophically high rates of unemployment and a surging rate of poverty.
Consequently, a growing sense of tension developed among citizens who
opposed the government’s new direction. Billy’s brother, Tony, is particularly
representative of this restless tension; the schoolchildren singing a caustic
“Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher” are further evidence.
Perhaps no region of the UK was as profoundly impacted by “Thatcherism” as
Northern England, the setting of Billy Elliot. Although England’s divide between
a prosperous, business-oriented South, centered in London, and an industrial,
labour-driven North predates Thatcher’s term in office, the policies instituted in
the 1980s led to the rapidly accelerated decline of the steel, shipbuilding, and
coal mining industries. These occupations had long been vital to the economic
stability of Northern England. The North-South divide was, in turn, exacerbated
by the common perception that the decisions responsible for closing Northern
factories and mines and decreasing workers’ wages were made by politicians
and government-supported business leaders based in the South.
In these respects, the 1984–85 Miners’ Strike was, arguably, the defining event
of the decade. In March of 1984, the National Coal Board announced the
closure of 20 mines. As a result, 20,000 workers lost their jobs, particularly in
Northern England, where mining represented the primary occupation for many
villages and towns. Three of the mines slated for closure (within a span of
just five weeks) were located in County Durham, the county where Billy Elliot’s
fictional Everington is located. Meanwhile, rumours swirled that the Thatcher
government planned to shut down as many as 70 mines. By 1984, only around
200 mines remained operational in the UK, where over 1,000 mines had thrived
in the earlier decades of the 20th century.
Fearing the extinction of their livelihood, the National Union of Mineworkers
and the National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies, and Shotfirers
voted to strike. As “scab” workers, or “strike-breakers,” were sent into the
mines, tensions escalated further, leading to sometimes violent clashes between
striking miners and the police. More than 11,000 civilians were arrested during
12 Bill’s Notes: Billy Elliot
these confrontations. Acts of violence occurred against both the striking miners
and the workers sent in to replace them. Striking workers David Jones and Joe
Green were killed while standing on the picket line. Taxi driver David Wilkie
was killed while driving a non-striking miner to work. Such horrific incidents
persisted throughout the 358-day duration of the strike. Ultimately, the outcome
of the strike, with National Coal Board making few concessions to the unions,
signalled the inevitable decline of mining and the communities supported by
it; this sadly evident fate is lamented by the miners near the end of Billy Elliot.
Similarly, in urban areas of Northern England, the manufacturing sector was
severely weakened, following the closure or downsizing of many factories.
Yet, from this period of perilous economic hardship, vital art was produced that
gave voice to the frustrations of England’s North. Of particular note is the rock
and pop music that emerged from Manchester, Northern England’s largest
city, during the 1980s. Groups such as the Smiths (fronted by Morrissey), Joy
Division, New Order, the Buzzcocks, A Certain Ratio, and the Fall, among many
others, provided mordant musical snapshots of life in Thatcher-era Northern
England. In their song “Still Ill,” the Smiths seemed to encapsulate the feelings
of discontent shared
widely across the North,
with Morrissey singing,
“I decree today that life
is simply taking and not
giving / England is mine,
and it owes me a living.”
The musical artists
of this era struggled,
under increasingly
arduous economic and
political circumstances,
to express themselves
through art and
performance. Their
endeavours are
discernibly echoed in
Billy Elliot, as the hopeful,
young protagonist
struggles to survive, and
to express himself, in
what were, for many, very
hard times.
nolan fahey. photo by mark halliday
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16 Bill’s Notes: Billy Elliot