Violence and Son, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court, review: Fizzes with scabrous humour but concludes unconvincingly
David Morrst portrays Liam beautifully but this ending feels contrived
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Liam (beautifully portrayed by David Moorst) is a geeky 17-year-old – a fastidious mummy's boy whose mother has recently died. With nowhere else to go till he gets his A Levels, he's been forced to move from the north to the Welsh valleys and live with Rick (Jason Hughes), the lager-swilling, hard-nut father whom he's never known but whose nickname (“Vile” for violence) is no misnomer.
Premiered in Hamish Pirie's splendidly acted in-the-round production, Gary Owen's new play fizzes with scabrous humour and grows convincingly darker but its grim, nightmarish conclusion I found unpersuasive.
Costumed as Matt Smith's Dr Who and Amy Pond respectively, Liam brings his attractive college friend Jen (Morfydd Clark) home from a science fiction convention. She's drawn to this bookish, witty nerd who could well have “landed in a blue box from another planet”. Will she finish with her macho rugby- playing boyfriend for him?
The lewdly chauvinist Rick and his vulgar girlfriend (Siwan Morris) egg the lad on to take the initiative. The tensions between father and son and violence as an escape from intolerable emotions are handled very well. But I don't think the play makes it plausible that Liam would wind up disastrously following Rick's advice and so the ending feels, to me, contrived and deterministic.
To July 11; 020 7565 5000
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments