Kes

It was my pleasure to visit the Oldbury Rep and in particular the studio studio, for this production directed by Ian Thompson, of Kes, an adaptation of the classic book ‘A Kestrel for a Knave’ by Barry Hines. Kes tells the story of a day in the life of Billy Casper, who about to leave school is determined not to end up working down the pit. One thing has changed his life forever – his kestrel hawk, Kes which depicts the story of Billy’s heart, and metaphorically enables him to soar above the narrow confines of his life.

There are just two players, ‘Billy’ played by Jake Jones and ‘The Man / Narrator’ played by John Nicholas. Although not a long piece – approximately 50 minutes in length, from the first line to  and  last,  both were totally committed in their performances. Set in Yorkshire, accents are well maintained and Jake explains that ‘Kes makes life better than anything else around here’ and with the aid of a stolen book learns how to train Kes, and probably for the first time in his life receives praise from a teacher for an impromptu talk about the training and how he looks after Kes. These sequences were very well handled by Jake.

Meanwhile John played a number of roles superbly, often switching from one to another within a short piece of dialogue. These characters ranged from Jud, Billy’s brother, the stuttering shop keeper Mr Porter, older Billy and his teachers. As Billy’s Headmaster, John was convincingly harsh and in addition directed some lines at members of the audience as if they were his students as well, adding to the  atmosphere.     

Billy is persuaded to place a bet for Jud but instead spends the money on chips, which leads to his downfall as the horse wins  - Both Billy and Jud listen to the race on the radio and their respective acting – Billy’s distress at fearing the selected horse will win, and Jud’s excitement on its success, was excellent. As revenge for Billy’s misdemeanour, Kes is killed and dumped in a bin and Billy’s grief in recovering the broken bird was moving.

The set was simple and various props were used to signify changes in setting and throughout there were some excellent sound effects in support. This was an excellent piece of theatre.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.