Goodnight Mister Tom

Originally written by Michelle Magorian, ‘Goodnight Mister Tom’ tells the story of a young boy William facing abuse, who is relocated to the countryside to the care of an elderly recluse, Mister Tom, in the wake of World War 2. All is perfect until William is suddenly summoned by his mother back to London.  It was adapted for stage by David Wood in 2011, who was first inspired to write children’s books whilst working at the Swan Theatre, Worcester in the late 1960s.

The TV newsreels in the foyer, the air-raid shelter en-route to the auditorium and the opening film sequence and set, literally set the scene beautifully as we were reminded of what a wrench the evacuation must have meant to all the families. Originally planned to be staged at the Norbury in 2019, it was clear from the response the audience gave to the opening words of welcome, that they too were glad to be back in the theatre.

The central characters are the young boy ‘William’ played by Billy Jordan and a recluse ‘Mister Tom’ played by Adrian Over. Billy gave an excellent natural performance and one quickly realised the level of abuse he had received at the hand of his mother; shying under the table at the sight of a belt his mother had sent to ‘Mister Tom’, going to sleep under the bed rather than in it and the discovery of a number of bruises. Initially ‘William’ was not welcome but Adrian soon got into stride when realising there was a growing affection for the boy, which he portrayed with great feeling. They had some lovely poignant moments together throughout the performance.

There were other confident performances including Charlie Harris as William’s close friend ‘Zach’ played with great stage presence, Alex Ingram as the bully ‘George’, Nigel Payne as a typical ‘Dad’s Army style’ ARP warden, and Ann Lane as ‘Miss Thorne’ and ‘Gladys’. Not for the first time apparently, a border collie puppet called ‘Sammy’ was cast as Mister Tom’s pet. This was proficiently operated by Sophie Davey-Over who merged into the set almost unnoticed.

When ‘William’ was summoned back to London by his mother, we witnessed the true extent of his abuse, not to mention a new-born that had its mouth taped to stop it crying. It was a moving scene and to say I hated this woman (‘Mrs Beech’) is true, but underlines how convincing a portrayal it was by Jan Miller-Weir. The other youngsters and characters in the cast provided great support and I also enjoyed the atmospheric scenes in the air-raid shelter interior and hospital.

The set was the usual high standard we have come to expect and was cleverly designed and simply moved to accommodate a variety of settings. Costumes were just right and it was obvious a lot of trouble had been taken to ensure the props were authentic.

Congratulations to Director Glynis Smith and all others involved on and off stage.

Bruce Wyatt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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