If you are looking for some seasonal entertainment, but all that over-the-top panto stuff is just a little too much for you, then The Boy Under the Christmas Tree might just fit the bill. It’s fun but definitely not for all the family, as the mostly 2115 time slots suggest. It’s also showing at the King’s Head Theatre, Islington, so there will be plenty of festive cheer flowing before, during and after the show.
Chandler has put together a titillating trio of actors.
The Boy…..is the latest creation of Glenn Chandler and follows the award-winning success of his Kids Play, which ran in Edinburgh and London earlier this year, and his many other productions. Unable to ditch the detective disposition he so brilliantly deployed when writing Taggart, he has created a fast-paced, humorous hangover plot full of festive folly and a magical air of mystery. The cast promise to milk it for all its worth with hilarious scenes, quick-witted and often intellectual dialogue and ludicrous sets of circumstances.
For those who are are tempted by storylines here it is. Lawrence Bennett is a would-be comedian. After another fairly dismal performance and night of heavy drinking he wakes up to find a gorgeous, half-naked young man under his Christmas tree. With both guys in a state of amnesia they wonder what on earth Santa has been up to. Lawrence might be in a befuddled condition, but the but the boy doesn’t even know what his name is or where he’s from. In the best tradition of A Christmas Carol Lawrence receives three visitations, though not of the sort Dickens imagined. More real than ghostly, first comes the Doctor who lives downstairs. He is off duty, certainly mentally, and does little to soothe Lawrence’s head or unravel the perplexing predicament, suggesting that maybe the Boy has received a knock on the head. While the arrival of the local bobby might usually provide some hope, this one’s investigative skills seem somewhat limited and fixed on the notion that the boy must be connected to a series of local thefts. Not a moment too soon Santa arrives, but his utterances clearly indicate that he really does come from another world. The surreal plot is ultimately resolved in yet another characteristically inventive twist from the Scottish playwright.
Again choosing to direct his own play, Chandler has put together a titillating trio of actors along with an enhanced production team that is sure to provide seasonal sights and sounds that will fill the intimate theatre. Julian Starr, the sound designer, has already racked up a string of impressive commissions at theatres in London and Edinburgh since his recent arrival in the UK from his native Australia, although he wasn’t here long before he found himself whisked off to Czechia for The Comedy of Errors, which was staged in the world heritage site of Valtice Castle. Jack Wills has been retained as lighting designer having sensitively set the moods in Kids Play and in several productions at Theatre by the Lake in Keswick. David Shields has been brought in to dress the cast in items ranging from skimpy briefs to full-scale character costumes. For a man who has worked on huge West End musicals, touring companies and shows on the continent it’s probably something of a light relief to have only three actors to work on, even though they require several outfits. Stage managing all of this is Samantha Gardiner. She is more than familiar with the King’s Head Theatre having worked on Adam & Eve and Steve, 5 Guys Chillin’ and a number of the operas there, not to mention bigger productions at Opera Holland Park and Scottish Opera.
The film La La Land inspired Jamie Loxton (Lawrence) to apply for a drama course at ALRA having graduated from St Andrews with an MA in French and Spanish. He’d acted and directed at school and university and once gave a performance of Trinculo in The Tempest at the Edinburgh Fringe on the beach! He’ll no doubt be drawing on his experience as a stand-up comedian over the last couple of years to fully draw out the humour in this production. Matching him on the comic front will be Royal Central School of Speech and Drama graduate Sam Sheldon, who rises to the challenge of several costume changes and creating the completely disparate three ‘visitations’ along with a surprise fourth role, about which no more dare be said.
Following his 2017 sold-out performance at NewsRevue in Edinburgh he went on to direct the summer 2018 edition in London’s Canal Café Theatre, so relishes any chance at humour. Finally, new-comer Daniel Grice, plays The Boy in his first role since graduating from Arts Ed Drama School. He’ll be flaunting his tinsel and baubles as well as stirring up a great deal of seductive confusion as the cast seek to unravel the Yuletide mystery.
The word from rehearsals suggests that there have been a string of hilarious moments as the play has been developed and it’s potential explored. Chandler says, ‘I am so impressed with what this cast have achieved in only nine days. They have been an absolute delight to work with, and I only hope our audiences have as much fun watching this surreal farce as we have had in putting it all together’. It all promises to make for some very merry evenings at the King’s Head, but remember, ‘A boy is for life, not just for Christmas!’.
