Review of My Boy Jack
 | "Boy Jack has great potential" by Beth Eyre for remotegoat on 05/02/10 |  |
My review is a little mixed, because on the night I saw the production it was a little uneven. Lines were occasionally thrown away as if the actor found no meaning in the words, there were the odd slips of line and moustaches, and moments where one actor forgets a line and delivers a version of it slightly altered from the script and the other actor responds as if they had been fed the scripted line, at one point Kipling's 'The Jungle Books' are referred to, which briefly made me wonder if I had missed one of them. These jarring little moments make it difficult to be entirely swept up in the action.
I should stress that I saw My Boy Jack on the opening night and the small problems I observed in this otherwise strong production are the sort which may well vanish as the run progresses and the actors settle into their roles. These things aside, there is much to enjoy.
Simon Nader makes good use of the Barons Court's small underground theatre space using simple scenery and creating atmosphere through lighting and sound.
Initially Govind Hodgson's performance as 'Jack' with much elaborate face-pulling in the scene where he has a medical exam, seems to be veering into Frank Spencer territory, but Hodgson comes into his own by the time Jack becomes a soldier. In the trenches, Hodgson shows us an inexperienced, boy who is terrified but desperately trying to do his duty. His direct address to the audience in the moments before going over the top is powerful and full of humanity.
The scenes in the trenches are strong thanks to Hodgson and the three Irish Guards, played by Hannah Anderson, Paul O'Neil and Saskia Solomons. In a short period of time these four actors create a strong sense of character, relationships and, crucially, an almost tangible sense of terror, which fills the silence before they go over the top.
Elizabeth Jee as Carrie Kipling, the mother who feels powerless to stop her son going to war and Ruth Minkley as the headstrong Elsie Kipling both deliver strong performances.
The dominant image of the play nevertheless is David Clifton's Kipling; a tormented man, forced to rearrange his deep held beliefs, who is happiest when he children are with him for a story. Clifton captures the heart of Kipling in the scene where he shows his young Jack & Elsie the constellations and joyfully makes up their futures with all the delight of a seasoned storyteller. Simon Nader's direction lends this scene a magical quality - we see only Kipling, lit by a torch he is holding to point out the stars and then the beams of his children's torches join his own from offstage, creating a pointed contrast to the final scene where he is left to tell a story alone.
This production is sensitively directed and has some very high calibre moments, and it has the potential to become extremely good as the run continues.
| Event Venues & Times | |
| finished | Barons Court | 28a Comeragh Road, Barons Court, London, W14 9HR |
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