Curve Theatre Leicester – until Saturday 19th August 2023
Reviewed by Amarjeet Singh
3***
I arrived at the theatre, armed with a bag full of tissues and a heart full of hope. This adaptation of Lara Williamson’s hit novel, The Boy who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair promised to tell the story of Becket, whose life is left all at sea when he is bundled into his Dad’s fish van, along with his younger brother and mums armchair as they all run away in the middle of the night, leaving behind their almost-mum Pearl, without saying goodbye. Becket lost his real mum when he was 4 years old, and he didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to her either. This retelling promises an armchair of stories, one thousand paper cranes, a journey of loss and a young boy’s determination to bring his family back together again.
Unfortunately, after watching the performance, I was confused with a capital z.
I’m going to start with the positives. There was a huge wealth of talent on the stage. Sam Carter as Becket Rumsey was phenomenal. He commanded the stage with ease and sang with a beautiful clarity. James Breen was superb as Billy Rumsey, cheeky and on point. I truly hope to see a lot more of these stars in the making. The rest of the cast and musicians were equally as talented, singing, playing and dancing with aplomb.
Where it falls down, however, is with the production/adaptation itself. The aspect I loved most about the book and I feel a lot of readers did too, was how it felt to be 10 years old again and see the world through young Becketts eyes. Harnessing that innocence even when dealing with momentous difficulties. The way children seek out magic in the mundane and utilise the power of imagination to get through hard times, relying on each other to carry you through. There is such a simplicity even when the situation is quite complex.
This production, book, music and lyrics, by Jordan Li-Smith, lost it’s way because it was trying to be too full. When adapting from a book it’s clear not everything can be included, so focusing on important aspects/themes/characters is crucial. In this production there was such a mish mash of everything that character and relationship building was lost. Main characters came across as shallow and 2 dimensional, their actions and motivations did not make sense and jarred. The relationship between Becket, Billy and their father is lost. Ibiza Nana left me scratching my head, she looked the same age as almost mum Pearl.
The show contained 41 musical numbers (28 of them in it’s extremely long first half). The only songs which were memorable were the Crane song ‘Fold and Fold’ and One where Billy tap danced with a rather charming snail. Both were far too short in relation to ‘Becket’s Birthday’ which had 2 parts and was reprised twice. The production felt too long.
In terms of set design, by Richard Cooper, there was a huge red armchair, with a bright colourful halo which sat impressively on stage as the audience took their seats. Very soon it became clear this was the only piece of set. It had a trap door on the seat which people came up through, but I’m not sure how much this added to the story, gimmicky it became repetitive. The chair revolved to reveal it had things hanging on the back, signs, maps etc. The cast brought on props. Umbrellas to represent the ocean, and at one stage (reminiscent of The Ocean at the End of the Lane) there were carboard puppets bobbing in the umbrella sea. The puppets were crude and ineffectively lit and displayed, so were lost amongst the umbrellas and cast.
Choreographically, led by Steve Kirkham, there were a lot of people on the stage at once for almost every musical number, adding to that feeling of fullness. Certain effects were lost as there was a lot of repetition, the ensemble coming around the audience for example. To have less people on stage at once and the dance numbers being tightened up would work a lot better.
In it’s current format The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair has a cast of talented performers but unfortunately it’s humour misses the mark, it’s songs are plentiful and forgettable, it’s story line and themes meander, the characters don’t have depth or ring true and it’s far too long. However, there is no doubt a huge amount of passion has gone into this production. It needs a rethink, a rewrite, but like Becket and Billy, I will not lose belief that things will get better.