Tag Archives: Nancy Netherwood

RADIANT BOY

★★½

Southwark Playhouse Borough

RADIANT BOY

Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★½

“There are some neat, if underplayed, genre twists.”

In its own publicity, Radiant Boy was described by one cast member as “a queer coming-of-age meets The Exorcist via A Taste of Honey”.

That’s a tall order, cramming in a range of genres into a tight turn-around play. It also foresees the fault lines.

It’s 1983. After an unexplained episode at a music academy in London, trainee vocalist Russell (Stuart Thompson) abruptly leaves and returns to his childhood home in a post-industrial town in the North East. Awaiting him is Maud (Wendy Nottingham), his judgmental, curtain-twitching, pass-ag mother.

“It’s happening again,” he announces on his return.

Temperatures drop, bulbs crackle and fail, and he speaks with knowledge of events he’s never witnessed. There is even the suggestion of stigmata.

Maud turns to a priest named Father Miller (Ben Allen), who practises a fringe spiritual therapy he calls psychodivinity.

The substance of the play, therefore, is a series of probing sessions, rituals and cleansings, during which some of the truth behind Russell’s breakdown begins to emerge, including an intense bond he shared with another student, Steph (Renée Lamb), who prowls outside.

Here’s the problem.

There is no menace or atmosphere. Consequently, the cast suffers from a lack of conviction in the material.

The spirit (whose occupation of Russell is never fully explained) is that of Steph, the live-wire, fast-gabbing dancing queen. She is an absolute blast. So what Russell brings home is a friend from school, and the demonic possession is a playdate.

The priest is less an exorcist warring against the forces of evil than a plumber clearing a stubborn blockage in the downpipe.

The acting is technically great – Stuart Thompson as Russell is solid as a moody young man with mummy issues; Nottingham is suitably waspish and disappointed – but the production, under Júlia Levai’s underpowered direction, runs at a perpetual simmer when what is required is some welly, some oomph, some sense of true abyss-staring jeopardy.

Other minor horrors are suggested but never explored or resolved: Father Miller may have malign intentions or Russell’s homosexuality might be a factor. (Much is made of Russell’s queer identity in the programme notes, less so in the actual play.) The folkloric ghost of a young boy in the neighbourhood is raised then dumped. Religion and the nature of evil is surprisingly absent as key talking points.

The staging doesn’t help. The front room that is the centre of the action is initially shrouded in net curtains which are thankfully removed. However, the stanchions remain, and the audience feels fenced off from the actors. As a result, the lingering artificial cube of a set manages to be both too big and too insular at the same time.

There is, at the heart of the story, an intriguing idea. There are some neat, if underplayed, genre twists. Nancy Netherwood is a writer with huge potential, and she produces a script that is crisp, elegant and technically adept. But the play is ambivalent about its subject matter, too prissy to roll up its sleeves and state its case.

In short, the production is haunted by the ghost of the spectacle it might have been.



RADIANT BOY

Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 23rd May 2025

by Giles Broadbent

Photography by Olivia Spencer

 

 


 

 

Last ten shows reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues:

SUPERSONIC MAN | ★★★★ | April 2025
MIDNIGHT COWBOY | ★★ | April 2025
WILKO | ★★★ | March 2025
SON OF A BITCH | ★★★★ | February 2025
SCISSORHANDZ | ★★★ | January 2025
CANNED GOODS | ★★★ | January 2025
THE MASSIVE TRAGEDY OF MADAME BOVARY | ★★★ | December 2024
THE HAPPIEST MAN ON EARTH | ★★★★★ | November 2024
[TITLE OF SHOW] | ★★★ | November 2024
THE UNGODLY | ★★★ | October 2024

 

 

RADIANT BOY

RADIANT BOY

RADIANT BOY

Goodnight Mr Spindrift
★★

Old Red Lion Theatre

Goodnight Mr Spindrift

Goodnight Mr Spindrift

Old Red Lion Theatre

Reviewed – 24th April 2019

★★

 

“Netherwood’s writing is wonderfully descriptive and could fill the space alone”

 

Tucked away upstairs at the Old Red Lion Theatre, Goodnight Mr Spindrift showcased the writing of Nancy Netherwood. The play introduces us to Archie (Joshua Asaré) and Isaac (Jacob Ward) who are awaiting government testing which, if successful will improve their standard of living. Their ability to pass the test rests solely on the strength of their relationship but as they move along the process, cracks begin to show. The venue certainly provided a space fitting for the two lovers as they nervously wait inside their apartment.

If you research the writer and the play, there is much to be found connecting the work with the genre of horror and as a horror fan myself, I was prepared to be thrilled for seventy minutes as the action unravelled. Sadly, this piece missed the mark. Voiceover and audio work featured quite heavily in this production which appeared to be an attempt at the sinister. Coming through the speakers were the taunting words of Mr Spindrift (Angus Bower Brown) himself which were interwoven with the action on stage. At times it became inaudible leaving me somewhat unable to determine why Mr Spindrift’s character was important to the overall plot line. You begin to have questions which remain unanswered, leaving certain aspects of the play a little ambiguous.

The set (Nancy Dawson) was very simple yet creative. The kitchen area comprising of an oven and sink were crafted from metal wiring in addition to a large window which hung downstage. Aesthetically the design looked great but sadly the kitchen collapsed mid performance when knocked by a performer so perhaps was more creative than practical. Stage-right featured an amalgamation of wiring and shards of broken mirror all connected to form an interesting and slightly intimidating creation that spread up towards the lighting rig.

The writing is an exploration of love and relationships, bringing in to question just how far someone is willing to go for the person they love. Netherwood’s writing is wonderfully descriptive and could fill the space alone so I’m not sure the production needed the props that dotted the stage as there were clunky set changes which detracted from the work. The horror and thriller I had hoped for just didn’t deliver on this occasion and was a little rough around the edges.

 

Reviewed by Lucy Bennett

 


Goodnight Mr Spindrift

Old Red Lion Theatre until 27th April

 

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:
Hedgehogs & Porcupines | ★★★ | October 2018
Phantasmagorical | ★★★ | October 2018
The Agency | ★★ | October 2018
Indebted to Chance | ★★★★ | November 2018
Voices From Home | ★★★½ | November 2018
Anomaly | ★★★★ | January 2019
In Search Of Applause | ★★ | February 2019
Circa | ★★★★ | March 2019
Little Potatoes | ★★★ | April 2019
The Noises | ★★★★ | April 2019

 

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