MAN AND BOY

MAN AND BOY

Chelmsford Theatre Workshop

at The Old Court

10.02.12

A stylish post-script to the Rattigan centenary season, Mike Nower's Man and Boy was one of the most consistently accomplished productions I've seen on this stage.

The split set – boldly imagined and skilfully realised – had real stairs down to the basement, allowing us to glimpse film noir shadows of the characters as they arrive and leave.

Memorable stage pictures, too. The troubled Basil [James Christie] sitting in the window, and the opening moment, with Carol [Amanda Drury] en déshabillé in his bed.

Both of these young actors gave pitch-perfect performances. Christie's eloquent features, his body language, brought out the agony of the Boy who cannot help worshipping his father, despite everything, crumpling as he ties his tie, sobbing with his back to us. And Drury's young American, elegant but vulnerable, sounded superbly convincing.

Not all the accents were as assured as hers, but all the performances were thoughtful and intelligent, and the actors worked wonderfully well together, in a tawdry tragedy, a web of intrigue involving finance and family, deviancy and death. David Hawkes was Gregor, the mogul "mystery man of Europe", effortlessly dominating the stage, but perhaps most effective as he sees the chickens coming home to roost. His "Crown Prince" henchman was a genial, menacing Robin Winder. Herries, as played by Terry Cole, seemed more of a Harvard jock than a pink-faced pederast with literary leanings; his hysterical young accountant was played for all he was worth by Tony Ellis – a textbook character exploration. And Catherine Kenton brilliantly suggested the complexities of the secretary turned Countess.

All the interactions were masterfully explored – not least the various farewells which close this compelling drama.