Olive Boy by Ollie Maddigan, Southwark Playhouse, the Little, 77 Newington Causeway, London SE1 | until 31January 2026 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell
Photo credit: John Blitcliffe
Olive Boy
by Ollie Maddigan
Southwark Playhouse, the Little, 77 Newington Causeway, London SE1 | until 31January 2026
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell
“A memorable evening not to be missed.”
The Olive Boy is a 15-year-old who lives with his mother and her partner – but when she dies he is sent to live with his father, someone he hardly knows. His world is transformed, and he is grieving for his mother. The play is based on Ollie Maddigan's own life, and he delivers a stunning performance, attention seized he never lets the audience's attention go. He is everything that such a boy could be, insecure, hormones raging, and looking for a girl among what is available in his new school and trying to establish himself as one of the cool guys. Maddigan takes risks as he involves the audience directly from time to time, which could have shattered the world he is creating with little more than a chair, a jacket and a school satchel, but it actually adds to the shared experience. The piece started at the Camden Fringe in 2021, went on to be a hit on the Edinburgh Fringe the following year and now appears in a fully worked out version sympathetically directed by Scott Le Crass in the Little, one of the best London Fringe theatres for what may be its final run. Do not miss it. Final run? Well, Maddigan probably needs to move on. Ronni Ancona provides the voice of his therapist, and the piece opens with some video footage of the young Ollie and his mother which shows what he has lost. There is a disastrous trip to see his mother's partner but there is no refuge there and he and his father must do the best they can. It is a memorable evening and Maddigan really really delivers that rarity, a tour de force.
Cast
Ollie Maddigan
Ronni Ancona – Voice Over
Creatives
Director – Scott Le Crass
Lighting Designer – Adam Jefferys
Stage Manager – Dani White
