3rd-6th October 2012
All is not well in the Humble hive.
Timid, bumbling Felix Humble is a thirty-something theoretical astrophysicist at Cambridge. He returns to his family home to serach for his unified theory of everything aafter the death of his father, James. But over time, as he is confronted with familiar faces from his past, he is forced to discover much more than he expected. Darkly humorous, touching and wholeheartedly entertaining, Humble Boy will leave you buzzing with delight.
Humble Boy
By Charlotte Jones
Director's Note:
I first decided that this was the paly for me when reading it on the way home on the train. It was the second scene in Act 1, and one of George's lines made me loudly guffaw in a packed carriage. Since that moment, I decided that the same loud guffawing was a thing that I wanted to share with the patrons of the Drama Studio. SO if I don't hear loud guffawing, I will cry. Just so you know.
Special thanks have to go to many people, not least the delightful Matthew Woodhead, who has provided many bits of the set and props that you will see this evening without actually being involved in the show aside from the fact that Loma and myself drag him to the pub after rehearsals and force him to drink.
On the subject of Loma, she has been an absolute joy to work with throughout. I threw Loma very much in at the deep end in asking her to do the show (a day before show proposals for the season, nothing like forward planning...) with very little technical experience buts lots of enthusiasm, and a "Big Booty" which she has been only too happy to share with the cast and crew. The same thanks to Vicky Webb, Technical Officer for the show,who has put blood, sweat and tears into this play, quite literally. So don't touch anything. Again, the same thanks go to our wonderful designers for creating, lighting and creating sounds for this play, who have run around for weeks to make this as wonderful as it is tonight.
To Katy, my producer par excellence , I can only apologize for my, at best, lacklustre organiszational skills. Nothing would have been possible were it not for Katy ringing Samuel French for weeks on end or fighting endless battles with the behemoth of room bookings, and for that, I am eternally grateful.
To Stevie, my musical producer, who has had to endure many a conversation about music with a man that knows very little about music, but just wants to hear a pretty version of "In the Mood" for a few evenings in a week.
To my cast - I'm sure I'll get emotional at the end of the run and sob into my beer as I tell you that I love you more than life and you'll be terrified - but you know just how wonderful you all are.
For me, the show is something of a milestone - it's the first legitimate comedy the society has doine since I started, which I can only see as being a positive. I feel there's an assumed obligation with student theatre-makers to perform texts that are in some way radical, that will change the world or are riddled with hot-button political issues, when I think the reality is that our only obligation , if indeed there are any, is to perform simply good plays - Humble Boy won't reshuffle the seats of power or stop global warming, but I never intended to do that. Perhaps it'll make you somewhat reassess your relationships with your family, but my intention is to entertain, divert and share this wonderful and touching play with you all.
In the words of Flora Humble herself, we will cry, but oh we will be uplifted.
Cast and Crew:
CAST
Felix – Jack Burkhill
Flora – Alice Ordish
George – Stuart Gresham
Mercy – Laura Quinn
Jim – Ed Crowther
Rosie – Claire Sharp
PRODUCTION TEAM
Director – Tom Lodge
Producer- Katy Robinson
Stage Manager – Loma Sylvana
CREW
Technical Officer - Vicky Webb
Musical Director - Stevie Partington
Lighting Designer – Chris Charlesworth
Sound Designer – Alice Lord
Set Design/Construction – Heather Newson
Lighting Operator – James Bailey
Sound Operators – Alice Lord, Amelia Jones
Costume Team - Ellie Winn, Bella Peniston, Catherine Woolley
Band- Tierney Kirby, Ben Redmayne, Natalie Farrow, Becca Byde
Publicity- Joe Bunce
Charming and challenging in equal measure, Sheffield University Theatre Company’s Humble Boy is a tale of love, loss, life and bees. The plot centres on Felix Humble, a young man coping with the loss of his father, his mother’s new relationship and his own mental illness and social inadequacies.
As a gentle buzzing descends on the hushed audience, masked beekeepers wander on stage like astronauts on an undiscovered planet. A moment of stillness passes, and suddenly the stage explodes into light and colour and Humble Boy begins in earnest. This play is one of contrasts: dark and light, birth and death, love and loss, wild nature and the tame safety of civilisation.
A live band fill hushed moments with jaunty recitals of 1940s jazz hits, further emphasising the way the themes in this play transcend time. However, it’s the buzzing that brings the subtext of Humble Boy to life. It creeps up on you without you noticing, filling the auditorium with the increasingly agitated sound of hundreds of bees. This drone builds and explodes in parallel with Felix’s struggle with mental illness. It is at once impressive, striking and incredibly unsettling.
Director Tom Lodge demanded guffaws from his audience, and guffaws he got. The production started slowly, with a few chuckles here and there, but by the second half the laughs just keep coming. Short, sharp one-liners are delivered in an engaging and accessible manner, with a real sense of wit.
Newcomer Jack Burkill is instantly endearing as the sweet, self-effasive Felix. Burkill’s wonderfully subtle physicality slowly draws out the scripted sense of social awkwardness. Alice Ordish should be commended for her cold, cutting performance of Flora, Felix’s mother. Beneath the icy surface, Ordish brings out a softness that has the audience hanging on her every word. Stuart Gresham and Laura Quinn as George and Mercy respectively bring in plenty of laughs with fun, light-hearted deliveries and plenty of playful physicality.
Lodge insists that his intention is solely to entertain, but beneath the safe, suburban surface of this comedy lies something powerful. Humble Boy alters your perceptions of the world and the people around you. Lodge is right, it won’t ‘reshuffle the seats of power or stop global warming,’ but it is delightful, uplifting and surprisingly thought-provoking.
-Lauren Archer, Forge Arts, 8th October 2012
