BILLY THE KID. To 10 June.
London
BILLY THE KID
adapted by Tony Graham from the book by Michael Morpurgo
Unicorn Theatre 147 Tooley Street SE1 2HZ To 10 June 2007
Tue-Sum various dates 10.15am 1.15pm 2pm 6.30pm
Runs 1hr 30min One interval
TICKETS: 020 7645 0560
www.unicorntheatre.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 29 May
Audience members get a chance to shoot for goal AND there’s a play to follow.
An old man goes to the park to sit and drink; a teenager to escape school, play football and dream of becoming a professional. They know each other; the old man’s been allowed a shed in which to sit, drink and stink by the lad’s parents. It’s been his one lifeline when the world’s forgotten him.
For old William was pre-World War II Billy the Kid, Chelsea’s latest wonder-kid. But wartime injury put paid to that, and the ever-accepting Billy drifted through life. Today’s the day his story comes out to young Sam
Sam, the addition to Michael Morpurgo’s book in Tony Graham’s adaptation, comes over less clearly. At first he doesn’t seem to know Billy, who could be any old drunk in the park. Then the shed connection emerges. It sounds the sort of thing social services, not to mention neighbours, might have taken an interest in. Not does Sam seem concerned news he’s missing school might get home.
It might have been better to let the pair’s meeting stay a casual matter. Then there’d have been no risk the story wouldn’t have come out at an earlier meeting (did Sam or his parents never talk about Billy? The show’s for 8+ but such factual points are just the ones young minds fasten on).
This, though, turns out as much a story of pitched battles as battling on the pitches. Once down to Billy’s past, and the contrast between football then and now (sharpened by Billy’s having played for Chelsea), the action pulses faster. Billy’s life is re-created, with Sam Donovan becoming everyone from his cloth-capped father to wartime soldier colleague, impressed that Billy-the-Kid’s fighting, and taken prisoner, alongside him.
Donovan whizzes round the flat and banked sections of Adam Wiltshire’s scuffed-grass setting, while Dudley Sutton stands benignly, age and alcohol having taken much of the energy and most, apart from the memories, from him. There are moments Sutton lets nostalgic reverie takes over from action, but it’s a strong story and the final seconds, as the offstage crowd from the ‘30s chant for their hero, is a clincher.
Sam: Sam Donovan
Billy: Dudley Sutton
Director: Tony Graham
Designer: Adam Wiltshire
Lighting: Oliver Fenwick
Composer: John Avery
2007-05-30 13:09:23