SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Connecticut
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us
A CurtainUp 
London Review
London ReviewThe Drawerboy
|
I’ve done bad things. I was in a show last year about a group of dead animals. I was a hedgehog. I didn’t move for three hours.— Miles
|
Simon Lee Phillips as Miles and Neil McCaul as Morgan (Photo: Ben Broomfield) |
Seemingly forever caught up in a displacement activity of preparing meat loaf sandwiches for himself and Morgan, Angus shuffles round the set with the innocence of a child. But give Angus a sheet of numerical calculations and he will give you the answer with the speed of Dustin Hoffman’s “idiot savant” in Rainman.
Miles is set to work on the farm by Morgan, who although he has a Welsh name, has that austere, even mean attitude of the Scots Presbyterian work ethic. The mindless work experience type tasks for Miles include scrubbing gravel as Morgan decides early on that the combination of Miles and the tractor is a liability.
Much of the charm comes from Angus’ character interacting with the young actor. We are told that Angus was injured when as a soldier in Europe during the war he was caught in the London Blitz. As they start to exchange stories, Angus’ memory seems to get better in the way that reminiscence therapy makes those struck with memory loss feel better as the memories of their youth are clearer than recalling where this morning they put their false teeth. The layers are peeled away to reveal a dark and terrible secret. At an altogether lighter level, theatre people will enjoy Miles’ retelling of the essentials of Hamlet story in the updated language of 20th century teenspeak.
There are moments of high humour such as when Miles tells us about the director’s rejection of his bizarre Dance of the Hay Bale Stacker contribution to the Farm show or when Morgan asks Miles asks Miles how he would describe himself politically and Miles replies “Well, I’m an actor.”
The performances are delightful and I thought we were watching Canadian actors! Neil McCaul’s voice resonates with wonderful depth but it is the performance from John Betts which is disarmingly attractive. This is a play to stay in your psyche, theatre which both fully engages the heart and satisfies the intellect.
|
Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe,
E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com
put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. |
| The Drawerboy
Written by Michael Healey Directed by Eleanor Rhode Starring: John Betts, Neil McCaul, Simon Lee Phillips Design: Molly Einchcomb Sound and original composition Composer: George Dennis Lighting: Howard Hudson Presented by Snapdragon and Nicola Seed in association with the Finborough Theatre Running time: Two hours with one interval Box Office: 0844 847 1652 Website: www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk Booking to 14th July 2012 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 22nd June 2012 performance at The Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED (Tube: Earls Court or West Brompton) |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email . . . also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. |
