My Boy Jack

A poignant, harrowing at times, and moving portrayal of this WW1 story, telling of Rudyard Kipling`s blind patriotism and belief in Empire, and his desire for  his son Jack to enrol into the army to fight for his country, despite him being underage and with poor eyesight.  This production held your attention throughout.  Superb characterization from the whole cast, and great credit must go to Suzi Illston for her direction of this very challenging subject. 

A commanding performance by Martin Illston as Rudyard Kipling, bringing out the` blinkered upper class colonial` attitude to the full, probably the best performance I`ve seen by Martin.  Equally, Jack Eccles as his son John (“Jack”) Kipling gave an excellent interpretation of a shy self-conscious youth who enlists to escape the suffocation of his home life, only to endure the ravages of the trenches and  to pay the ultimate sacrifice.  His acting with his father was top drawer.

The  scene at the Western Front, before going over the top, between Jack and Rick Law as Guardsman Bowe, Simon Paget as Guardsman McHugh  and Rob Hodkinson,  s Guardsman Doyle, will be remembered for a long time.  Another one of the many moving sections of the play  was the scene with Guardsman Bowe, who, suffering the trauma of being shell-shocked, described the horrendous picture of trench warfare, and how Jack Kipling met his end.  A brilliant, touching  portrayal.

 There were also excellent supporting  roles from Sue Orme as Carrie Kipling, and Amy Law as Elsie (“Bird”) Kipling,  who valiantly tried to question her father`s  attitudes.  The impressive cast was completed by Mike Asprey as Major Sparks,  Mark Pardner as Col. Rory Pottle,  and Chris Davies as Mr Frankland. 

All in all a most memorable production that will take some beating.

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