Forty years after the airing of Alan Bleasdale’s five-episode television hit Boys From the Blackstuff, the show has taken the stage. Premiered at the Royal Court, in Liverpool, James Graham’s adaptation is now running in London, directed by Kate Wasserberg in her National Theatre debut. The play stays true to the original. It’s set in Liverpool during the 1980s, and it follows five male friends who dabble in illicit work, lose their jobs laying tarmac (“blackstuff”), look for employment, lose money, and look for money. Which means it’s a tale of masculinity, hardship, and pride. Graham successfully preserves the heart and depth of Bleasdale’s characters while reinventing the structure to suit the stage. —Jeanne Malle