Tavonians Theatre Company
Humble Boy
On tour in March 2019
Tavonians Theatre Company will be on tour in west Devon and east Cornwall in early March with Humble Boy, an award-winning comedy by Charlotte Jones. She takes some inspiration from Shakespeare’s Hamlet and among her other influences can be seen Alan Ayckbourn, particularly in a hugely funny lunch scene.
Performances will be in Mary Tavy, Tavistock, Upton Cross, Callington, Meavy and Okehampton between 1st and 16th March. The Director of Humble Boy for Tavonians Theatre Company is Stuart Waterworth, who has directed many recent productions to great acclaim. He says of Humble Boy “This play opened to brilliant reviews in 2001 and I first saw it the following year with a stellar cast and found myself laughing throughout. It is not only a funny piece but is also poignant and thought provoking. I have wanted to do this show ever since and now I have a wonderful cast to help me achieve that.”
The story is based around Felix (Tim Sutton), a research fellow in theoretical astrophysics, who returns to his Cotswold family home after his father’s death. The irony is that, while the unhappy Felix’s personal life is fragmenting in front of our eyes, he is seeking a supersymmetry that is to be the theory of everything. Felix’s mother, Flora (Tessa Skola), fails to understand her son and her dark glasses conceal both her anger and the bruises of her recent nose job. Her lover and now her suitor George Pye (Frank Woodcock ) is anxious to marry her. George’s daughter Rosie (Jeni Boardman ) once loved Felix and was abandoned by him for the greater cause of science. Jim (Mike Rendle) a gardener, and Mercy (Ali Fife Cook) a rather sad busybody neighbour, weave in and out of the action bringing extra dimensions to the turmoil of relationships.
Science is only one of many threads running through the fabric of this play about families, gardening, beekeeping, and the value of words. Above all the play sets out to entertain and make you laugh as much as it wants you to think and to feel.
Humble Boy won the Critics’ Circle Best New Play Award following its premiere at the National Theatre. Reviews of it include ‘Very very funny… this is a seriously wonderful play.’ Sunday Times, and ‘Rich, original, intelligent, funny and touching… I can’t recommend this lovely play too highly.’ Daily Telegraph.
Full details can be found on the Tavonians website, www.tavonians.org.uk, or by phone 08455 196592.
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Further information, artwork or photographs from [email protected], 08455 196592.
