ACT Reviews 2022-2023 Season

to the story, but things moved on too quickly. An example of this was Tom's discovery of the belt in William's bag, which felt very rushed – William's immediate dive under the table and Tom's dismissal of the belt did not give the actors the opportunity to show their

developing understanding of the situation and subsequent emotions – Will's fear and Tom's realisation and revulsion at the meaning of the belt. Two further examples were Will's and Zach's returns to London – immediately on receiving the news "Wish me luck" was started, the boys were appropriately attired, and they were off, with no space for the initial shock and numbness then realisation of what was to come. Zach's death scene and Mrs Beech's shouting at Will on her collection of him from the station were also examples – there was just no space for feeling shocked and sad at the death of such a vibrant character or of feeling horrified for Will at his mother's treatment of him. I also felt that the nightmare scene came across as more comic or pantomime than frightening. While I fully appreciate that the nature of dreams is weird and exaggerated, the giant needle, the nurses stabbing the bed and the taunting characters surrounding William's hospital bed reminded me of the Spooky Mormon ‘Hell Dream’ from “Book of Mormon” which I'm sure was not the intention! Perhaps having the nightmare as a voiceover and seeing on stage William tossing and turning in bed would have been more effective – it would have left much more to the imagination which would possibly have created more of an atmosphere of fear or eeriness. Saying that, the final scene of the play – William calling Tom "Dad" for the first time – was full of emotion; Andrew Smith perfectly showed how moved Tom was in that moment and as his eyes welled up the whole audience was with him. This was