Goodnight Mister Tom

All I knew about this play when I was invited to this particular production was that it was about a chap called Tom and his relationship with an evacuee. I also never had the inclination to see the film of 1998. What I discovered was a brilliantly written play acted out equally brilliantly by the Rustington Players.

This sad story of wartime, child abuse, the evacuation of children and the death of one character and relatives of some of the others was, however sad, a wonderful portrayal of people supporting one another through the most difficult of times of war and coming out the other end.

Many years widowed Tom Oakley (John Shepherd) is the quiet village gentleman who is required by regulations to take in an evacuee from London. He does so, at first begrudgingly, and we meet that boy, William Beech (Harry Marshallsay). This was a tremendous partnership and as time went on we sense how we wish to see the happy outcome. These two were on stage for the majority of the performance and their acting was very good and convincing. The moment at the end when William calls Tom “Dad” is quite eye-watering. I am going to mention just two other cast members in the play - one human, one canine. Zach (Ziggy McCambridge) was the life and soul of the party and kept us amused while the plot had some sad moments. Sammy the dog (Kezier Croucher) seemed to understand everything that was happening and supporting his master through good and bad. (Well, dogs do - don’t they?) There were many village characters and Londoners throughout the performance all of whom were believable and looking  the part in their 1940’s clothes.  There was a few times when the children only were on stage. They provided some lovely moments for our delight.

Stage manager, Wendy Holloway, was in charge of the scenery and props for the ten different scenes. These were well in keeping for the time period. The technical side was also slick with fast lighting cues and sound effects of sirens and trains. The music chosen for the evening - including the scripted lyrics within the production itself - was very apposite. In all, the evening was an extremely entertaining time and congratulations go to director, Claire Cossins, cast and crew.    

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