Our House

Youth Section:

During what has been a rather sombre weekend with thoughts of World War I filling the media, it was refreshing to see a production by these talented youngsters.  Many are of an age little different to that which a hundred years ago might have seen them leave their homes in service of King and Country but those who did so showed all the enthusiasm of those on stage in York this week.   Similarly, the conflict between good and evil, which is the theme of this show, is not inappropriate at this time.

It’s Joe’s 16th birthday and he plans a romantic evening with Sarah, the girl of his dreams.  It all goes wrong when a Police raid catches them trespassing on private property when all they wanted to do was to admire the view.  Joe faces a decision between giving himself up or running off and the rest of the show then divides between “Good Joe” and “Bad Joe” with vastly different consequences.  There are some similarities to “Blood Brothers” and to the film “Sliding Doors” but all to the accompaniment of music from the repertoire of the band Madness, plus the Labi Siffre song “It must be love” and libretto by Tim Firth, perhaps better known for his “Calendar Girls”. The whole was enough to gain the Olivier award for Best New Musical in 2003.   

The constant changes between the two halves of the story make life difficult for the leading man and his Director but both were more than equal to the task.   Edward Atkin as Joe is seldom off stage or else is making a rapid change into the other half of his character, one all in white, the other in black, but all was achieved with great confidence. With the aid of a number of revolving doors and occasional use of a “Joe double”, Director Darren Roberts, in his first production for the company, kept the action moving, whilst still ensuring that the audience was able to follow the complications of the plot.  Faye Stainton gave an engaging performance as Sarah and there were good characterisations from all the principals, mainly their respective friends or, in Joe’s case, his nemeses too. The only adults (Hannah Witcomb as Mum and Richard Weatherill as Dad) helped to draw the two halves together, particularly the latter, deceased but watching from above.  There are opportunities for some glamour and exuberance in contrast to some darker moments and full advantage was taken of the use of parts of the auditorium to compensate for a fairly small stage and to accommodate quite a large cast.  My only slight criticism is that the dialogue was delivered quickly and, when coupled with the London accent, some of the humour was lost. 

I must confess to a preference for the more traditional rather than the “jukebox” type of musical but this production, backed by a smaller than usual and never overpowering band, goes some of the way to my partial conversion.   For that credit is due to this group of youngsters, the members of which, for obvious reasons, are seldom the same from year to year yet their standard is always high.                            

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