How the famous Oasis-Blur chart war became a West End play

The Herald Scotland

14-07-2025

But given the Irvine-born author's first life was as a music industry professional in the 1990s, the subject we alight on before too long is not fathers but brothers – two in particular, proudly Mancunian and currently enjoying the full glare of the media spotlight as their epic reunion tour hits the UK's stadiums. Yes, it's Oasis.
Niven first encountered the band supporting St Etienne at the Plaza in Glasgow in December 1993, seven months after their historic appearance at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut. At first he didn't see what the fuss was about. 'But then I saw them again a few months later and it was like: 'Oh wow! Okay I get this now. Then I saw them at Glastonbury in the summer of 1994 and I was at Maine Road.'
That was the iconic 1996 show at the old home of the Gallaghers' beloved Manchester City FC. 'So I was there for a few of the pivotal moments. They were a very powerful rock and roll group in their time and by all accounts they still are.'
As for the why, it's all down to the power of the frontman. 'Liam, even to kids who are 16 or 17 now, is a stone cold legend gangster. He just has this superpower aura of invincibility. He's just the coolest guy.'
But Niven has skin in the Oasis reunion tour in more ways than one. As luck would have it, he has just completed a play called The Battle which tells the story of the race to number one between Oasis and Blur in the summer of 1995. 'I started writing it before the Oasis reformation, so I was just stunned when it was announced,' he laughs.
Read more from Barry Didcock:
The Battle opens at Birmingham Rep in February before transferring to the West End and stars Gavin And Stacey's Matthew Horne as the music industry executive masterminding the hype war. But Niven says he originally turned down the approach from producer Simon Friend.
'I thought he wanted Britpop! The Musical and I said: 'It's not really what I do.' But then, as I thought about it, I thought there might be a really funny sort of David Mamet-type play about men screaming at each other in rooms. About something that, when we pull the lens back a little, is just ridiculous – which record's number one. Who cares? But it was such an interesting cultural time to shine the light back on because you forget the centrality of pop records to the culture, that it went from the pages of the NME to the 10 O'Clock News. The whole country up to the age of about 35 was very invested in this story. It's difficult to imagine pop music with that level of centrality today.'
As for Oasis themselves, he has some words of caution, however. 'I often think with band reformations it's a bit like Samuel Johnson's words on second marriages – a triumph of hope over experience. So we'll see if they make it to the end of the dates.'
The play's the thing
Like an angry piranha the ongoing catastrophe in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank is already nibbling at the tender bits of the upcoming Edinburgh Festival. So where transgender and environmental issues have dominated the debate in previous years it seems likely the shouting and complaining and protesting in 2025 will have a hard geopolitical focus. The noise is unavoidable, but it's to be hoped it doesn't obscure the main business of the world's largest arts festival – to present work which addresses issues like this in a considered fashion.
One well-regarded play on the subject of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is My Name Is Rachel Corrie, based on the diaries of the American activist killed by the Israeli army in Rafah in the Gaza Strip in 2003. The play was co-created two decades ago by Alan Rickman and journalist Katharine Viner, now editor of The Guardian. Rickman also directed the first staging, at London's prestigious Royal Court Theatre in 2005. Two decades, little has changed. The play is still stingingly fresh.
Sascha Shinder in My Name Is Rachel Corrie (Image: Tom Miller) With that in mind I had been wondering if we would see a revival this year. We are. Zoo Southside is the venue, the play runs for the full month of the festival and stars Sascha Shinder in a production by award-winning Scottish theatre director Susan Worsfold.
'Like many British Jews, I grew up with a narrow, emotionally-charged view of Israel as a place of safety and identity,' says Shinder. 'Over time, I found myself caught between Leftist friends condemning Israel and family defending it. After October 7th, I was flooded with emotion but felt uninformed. I needed to understand more. When I found My Name Is Rachel Corrie, it felt like a lightning bolt. Rachel gave voice to questions and feelings I couldn't articulate. Her journey – from privileged idealism to confronting brutal reality – mirrored my own in many ways. Her humanity, her refusal to see the world in binaries, deeply moved me.'
Difficult thing to do, step away from binaries. But history suggests it's ultimately the only way through.
And finally
The Herald's theatre critic Neil Cooper is out and about and recently visited Theatre 118 in Glasgow's Merchant City to take in two shows. The first was Fools On A Hill, a new work about (possibly misplaced) religious belief by Chris Patrick. The second was Madonna/Whore, another new play – this one by Julie Calderwood – and set in a maximum-security prison. Toxic masculinity and the abuse of women is the sobering subject of that one. Neil also took in The Tommy Burns Story at the King's Theatre, Glasgow.
Elsewhere Gayle Anderson watched broadcaster, clergyman and former keyboard player with The Communards Richard Coles turn raconteur at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh. 'Memories of Jimmy Somerville hit the mark,' says Gayle. 'Who knew the wee man was such a big fan of French enamel cookware?'
And of course there was the small matter of TRNSMT at the weekend and before that an appearance by yon Irish rap trio who have been in the news a lot recently. The Herald's Jody Harrison and Marissa MacWhirter were in attendance at Glasgow Green for headline appearances by Fontaines DC, Wet Leg and The Script while Teddy Jamieson was getting his Brits out at the Kneecap gig.