HUMBLE BOY Touring till 22 November.
Oldham/Touring
HUMBLE BOY
by Charlotte Jones.
London Classic Theatre at the Oldham Coliseum until 1 Nov..
Tues-Sat 7.30pm; Fri 8pm; Mats Wed & Sat 2.30pm.
Runs: 2hr 20min - One interval.
TICKETS: 0161 624 2829.
www.coliseum.org.uk.
Review: Stoon Barar 29 October 2008.
Tell ‘em about the honey Mummy
Humble Boy premiered at the NT in 2001 and subsequently scooped a hive-full of awards for ‘Best New Play’. Understandable as its universal appeal succeeded in holding the attention of a sizeable gathering of young school children in the matinee audience - no mean feat for a play clocking in at over 2 hours which is essentially a series of adult conversations and only features one simple set, no effects, a liberal dash of theoretical physics and a beginner’s guide to beekeeping!
Stripping the production down to the bare necessities places a premium on the acting talent and the cast of six really do deliver – none more so than in the second half when the principal quintet all appear together for the first time to enjoy (!) a late summer alfresco dining experience in the style of Festen – watching the truce between them deteriorate is a joy and relations are soon chillier than the gazpacho soup on offer.
Events are based on the aftermath of a family funeral when a widowed mother (Flora) meets her 35 year old son (Felix), a Cambridge academic. The expected broken bridges and personal loss lead to recriminations a plenty. Then there’s George, a family friend, who’s maybe a bit more than that to some...and Rosie his daughter who brings new meaning to ‘The Big Bang Theory’. Trying to keep the peace is Mercy, Flora’s long suffering friend, who accepts her put downs with wonderfully good grace. And lastly Jim the Gardner - a peripheral figure until the end.
It’s the characterization that makes this work, more especially the interactions which lead to situations we are all familiar with. Pauline Whitaker plays Flora with admirable consistency; her almost whimsical disdain of others a result of her own sense of frustration. John Dorney is excellent and lends Felix just the right amount of eccentricity as he struggles to accept that life isn’t a series of equations. Carole Dance is aptly named as Mercy (one could happily add ‘Angel of’): watching her finally succumb to the cruelty of Flora’s jibes draws genuine sympathy and seems scant reward for the endless aura of bonhomie she has shown.
The first act does occasionally require an investment of faith – the appearances of Jim seem superfluous and interrupt the flow and the colourful George (Peter Cadden) is overdone and lacks depth in comparison to the others – but he comes into his own with his sparkling denouncement of Felix in the second half. Happily Catherine Harvey as the outwardly confident Rosie suitably ups the pace with injections of plain speaking. She’s the only one who’s attempted to work through her setbacks and in present company is positively Freudian!
The director (Michael Cabot) mentions the word ‘balance’ in his program notes and this production achieves that with the comedy never being at the expense of the underlying messages or character development. Similarly the Randall & Hopkirk ending avoids being a honey coated version of Ghost and allows mother and son to move on with a natural progression that never smacks of contrivance.
George Pye: Peter Cadden.
Mercy Lott: Carole Dance.
Felix Humble: John Dorney.
Rosie Pye: Catherine Harvey.
Flora Humble: Pauline Whitaker.
Jim the Gardener: Martin Wimbush.
Director: Michael Cabot.
Designer: Jeremy Daker.
Lighting: Peter Foster.
Costume Supervisor: Katja Krzesinka.
Fight Director: John Fryer.
Production Stage Manager: Kris Snaddon.
Photography: Sheila Burnett.
2008-10-30 13:11:59