(Rated 5/5 )
This is a beautiful profoundly moving story of a 13-year old boy facing his mother’s illness. It was written for children and has so many messages for kids yet speaks to adults too. The key characters in this play are the boy Conor, his mother and a yew tree outside their home. At the same time every night the boy has nightmares of ‘darkness and wind and screaming’ and the tree calls to him telling him stories teaching him about the ways of people and how things are not necessarily back and white. Who is good and who is bad? What is right and wrong? And then the ‘monster tree’ asks him to tell his own story and ultimately show his truth rather than the façade he presents to the world.
This is a beautiful profoundly moving story of a 13-year old boy facing his mother’s illness. It was written for children and has so many messages for kids yet speaks to adults too. The key characters in this play are the boy Conor, his mother and a yew tree outside their home. At the same time every night the boy has nightmares of ‘darkness and wind and screaming’ and the tree calls to him telling him stories teaching him about the ways of people and how things are not necessarily back and white. Who is good and who is bad? What is right and wrong? And then the ‘monster tree’ asks him to tell his own story and ultimately show his truth rather than the façade he presents to the world.
This production immediately reminded me of ‘Curious Incident…’
in the way it is presented by an ensemble cast each taking on different
characters from seats either side of the stage and interacting with the young
boy in the middle. And the use of ropes to create the tree and other elements
is so impressive. Coordination is key!
The story was the idea of Siobhan Dowd who was terminally ill
with cancer and died before she could complete the novel. Patrick Ness
completed it after being invited to do so by the illustrator of the story. At
The Old Vic it was directed by Sally Cookson. Conor is played superbly by Matthew
Tennyson with Marianne Oldham as ‘Mum’ and the tree monster a very powerful
portrayal by Stuart Goodwin. The ensemble cast are all excellent seamlessly
working together creating flow and mesmerising drama.
You feel as though you have been in a dream of fairy tales
yet creating a stark reality of morals and emotional truths. Such a tremendous
way to deal with probably the most difficult situation any child – of whatever
age! - may have to face.
I highly recommend.
A Monster Calls – Review by TheRestrictedReviewer © 2018
