A Voyage Round My Father

I find hard to believe that fifteen years have gone by since I was last asked to visit Lyndhurst Drama and Musical Society. The Vernon Theatre is only small but it has a wonderful community atmosphere, everyone very welcoming. I particularly liked the sign on the bar that stated “we need to sell 25 glasses of wine to pay for the license” and I certainly enjoyed making my contribution to it.

A Voyage Around My Father is an autobiographical play by John Mortimer, It first appeared as a play on BBC Radio in 1963 and was later adapted for the stage.  The play is about the early life of the author, up to the time when his father died and centres on the fact that his father was left blind after an accident when the author was still a child.

I thought that this production was superb, it had me enthralled throughout. A bit of a farce in places, with excellent delivery of lines which brought out some wonderful comedy. I was conscious that I was trying to restrain myself from laughing too much.

Vic Milne gave an outstanding performance as the overbearing, self-centred, bullying father. His facial expressions and eye movements were that of a blind person. My eyes were drawn to him whenever he was on the stage. I think it is an achievement to tie a bowtie at any time, but to do it whilst holding a conversation on stage is nothing short of brilliant. What a fabulous role to get your teeth into. Rupert van de Bogaerde as the son was of equal standing and I loved his laid-back characterisation.

The rest of the large cast, many of whom played several minor roles, all gave a very good performances.  There were just one or two moments of hesitation during which the voice prompt was heard, but in no way did it spoil this excellent play.
 

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