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A CurtainUp 
London Review
London ReviewBoy
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"What do you see yourself doing in five year's time? "
— Job Centre interviewer
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Frankie Fox as Liam (Photo: Kwame Lestrade) |
It is visually riveting to watch as the stage managers set up numerous doors to represent a floor of a block of flats or a bus shelter or some road works or trees for a park. The process of changing these things has an exciting and transfixing momentum all of its own. These props form the London environment in which school leaver Liam (Frankie Fox) finds himself at a loss. The statistics are there: those achieving least well academically at school are white boys from the working classes. They are the neglected group, no-one's priority.
So Liam travels from the doctor's to the park, to the bus stop, past the road works, to a sports shop where he can't afford the trainers, to the housing department and the job exchange. He tries to connect with a friend from school speaking, an unintelligible to us, street dialect which he perceives as cool. He encounters a homeless girl in the tube but he belongs nowhere.
At the bus stop he sees some feisty black girls who are eating chips but he can't connect. Liam's mobile is for show only, it has no battery in it. The road workers speak to each other in Polish. Tourists are at the bus stop. In Sainsbury the checkout machine intones "Unexpected item in the bagging area.
This production is sponsored by the Almeida and "Arsenal in the community", a charitable initiative from the famous North London football club to help with youth culture and youth unemployment in the area. Many of the young cast are making their stage debut. What director Sasha Wares has created is a realistic series of snapshots set in the city, recognisable but isolating, with Liam, seeking something but not sure what that is. He has no money, no support. Gareth Fry's soundscape is so relevant and evocative of the noises of the city.
The furious activity of installing and removing the props contrasts with Liam's own lack of purpose, identity and companionship. The audience too will find themselves easily distracted, shamed that they cannot address the issues for 17 year olds like Liam. Boy is compelling theatre.
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| Boy
Written by Leo Butler Directed by Sacha Wares Starring: Frankie Fox With: Mohammad Amiri, Osmain Baig, Ruby Bridle, Emilio Doorgasingh, Terina Drayton, Aeran Fitzgerald, Ellie Mai Gallagher, Bayleigh Gray, Zainab Hasan, Duramaney Kamara, Asiatu Koroma, Wendy Kweh, Lev Litvinov, Georgie Lord, Angel Loren, Teann McDonnell, Eugenie-Alexia Mulumba, Sarah Niles, Demi Papaminas, Imogen Roberts, Abdul Salis, Morgane Tapia, Peter Temple and Matthew Wellard. Set designed by Miriam Buether Costume: Ultz Lighting: Jack Knowles Movement: Leon Baugh Sound: Gareth Fry Almeida Theatre in Partnership with Arsenal in the community Running time: One hour 15 minutes without an interval Box Office: 020 7359 4404 Booking to 28th May 2016 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 12th April 2016 performance at The Almeida, Upper Street London N1 1TA (Tube: The Angel) |
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