Many years ago I interviewed Ralf Little when he was appearing in Billy Liar. He was totally charming with a cheeky sense of humour and exuded infectious enthusiasm.
Here he is again then, cheeky and charming but displaying a mature confidence at the Rose Theatre Kingston in the touring production of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. Ralf is so relaxed and so amicable you feel you could just jump up and join him on stage. Admittedly he plays a character that instantly engages with the audience, and they can’t get enough of him. He kicks off this lively production by running through the audience and leaping on stage. Dressed as an affable teacher complete with cord jacket and leather patch elbows, he spends five minutes shouting at us to stop talking, put our hands on our heads - and amazingly everyone does it. What great power and presence the man has!
Here he is again then, cheeky and charming but displaying a mature confidence at the Rose Theatre Kingston in the touring production of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. Ralf is so relaxed and so amicable you feel you could just jump up and join him on stage. Admittedly he plays a character that instantly engages with the audience, and they can’t get enough of him. He kicks off this lively production by running through the audience and leaping on stage. Dressed as an affable teacher complete with cord jacket and leather patch elbows, he spends five minutes shouting at us to stop talking, put our hands on our heads - and amazingly everyone does it. What great power and presence the man has!
Ralf plays Brian, or Bri, husband to Sheila and father to their disabled 10 year old daughter, Joe. The first act reveals the relationship between the couple and their relationship with Joe. Bri swings between comedic charmer to a falling man who needs constant reassurance and support. Sheila, played tenderly and with warm humour by Rebecca Johnson, is an energetic, devoted mother trying hard to keep the family together and to give her daughter as normal a life as possible.
Jessica Bastick-Vines plays Joe, no doubt a difficult role but played so convincingly that there was certainly a very quite, thoughtful pause in the merriment of the audience when she is first brought on stage in her wheelchair.
Touching on a sensitive subject, this play, written by Peter Nichols and first performed in Glasgow in 1967 is surprisingly riotous and full of great gags and humour. Nichols’ script is fast-paced, poignant and pithy. The quick-fire dialogue between the characters is spot on, and the second act is hysterical in places. Neighbours Freddie (Owen Oakeshott) and Pamela (Sally Tatum) are a brilliant double act as the couple of who can’t quite get their to grips with the presence of a disabled child and Pam in particular is cringingly tactless with her small-mindedness attitudes. But Tatum brings great humour to the role and her mannerisms are so painfully funny, so much so that somehow this dissipates any discomfort we may feel.
But trumping all cards for delivering a truly great character is Oakeshott. I sat spellbound as he twisted and crouched and wrang his hands with sympathy and awkward well meaning. He is unfailingly constant in accent, manner and delivery. With Marjorie Yates also brilliant as Bri’s mother, this is a truly stunning cast.
Joe Egg is directed by Stephen Unwin, who himself has a disabled son called Joey. The programme for this production includes an enlightening and moving article written by Unwin for The Guardian in September 2012. In it he describes the challenges and joys of raising a boy with profound learning difficulties. He says how his Joey has opened his eyes. I think and hope that this moving play, with its flashes of black humour interspersed with quiet tenderness, will do the same for those of us lucky enough to see it.
A day in the life of Joe Egg plays at the Rose Theatre Kingston until May 18th, 2013
Box office: 08444821556 www.rosetheatrekingston.org
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