Radiant Boy - A Haunting

Southwark Playhouse Borough

Eerie and poignant. This play has come from a personal place and grasps a strong message about immediate family relationships and sexuality.

Nancy Netherwood has written a metaphoric play and director Jùlia Levai has jam packed the direction with a heap of symbolism. Radiant Boy is set in the 1980s in a small town in North-East England, young, ambitious Russell has returned from London to his mother, who doesn’t quite welcome him with accepting and open arms. The two await a visit from a priest who specialises in the supernatural, as his mother is convinced her son is possessed! The play explores a troubled mother and son relationship and the lack of acceptance towards queerness. Paired with a cappella folk and 80s music, which creates the eerie atmosphere. The creative side of the production have produced gripping paranormal moments and stage magic with minimal setting.

Stuart Thompson plays the lead Russell and as soon as he enters the stage the audience are instantly connected to his character. It is clear he longs for acceptance, time and compassion. His dynamic with Wendy Nottingham who plays his mother, Maud, shows elements of clashing and how he doesn’t meet her rigid standards. As the piece goes on their relationship develops into a more accepting and understanding tone. The two grow closer and his mother finds her own way to express her feelings towards him. It shows how times have changed, to be true to who you really are and a strong message about self-love when those around you aren’t giving you the respect you deserve.

Renée Lamb as Steph/The Voice and Ben Allen as Father Miller create the paranormal and spiritual element of the show. Lamb haunts the stage, as she lingers around the space and taunts Russell with his thoughts and memories. Her character steals him from his reality and steals his stability.  Her singing voice fills the stage like fog and creates the creepy, uneasy atmosphere. Father Miller is a character that portrays the prejudice against same sex relationships, but also the struggle with hiding sexuality and how a figure so well-respected and trusted can sometimes be hiding dark secrets. Allen shows the priests spirituality, but also how he holds himself as a high up figure and knows all. His character changes when he realises this case is beyond anything he’s ever experienced, and all his walls are broken down by the end when his true identity brought to the fore.

Be ready for some thrilling, paranormal stage magic. Tomas Palmer as Set and Costume, Patch Middleton as Sound Designer and Lucia Sánchez Roldon have worked in perfect tandem to create the paranormal setting. There are some divine moments in this piece that make the show truly haunting and harrowing. There stage is in a box and there is a window that hangs at the back of stage, lighting, set work together to make the design appear like a window. Of course, also how the actors naturally respond with the setting. A screen behind the window helps create the sense of what is outside, the weather and also ghosts that haunt the characters. The use of the record player and sound, the lamps and lighting show the strange goings on and the paranormal beings crossing the veil and taking control of the real world.

This piece is truly something new and fresh. Which is exactly what the theatre industry needs. It celebrates sexuality, whilst also showing that we cannot forget the past, how we need to carry on changing and becoming a more open society. That means stepping out and not being stuck in societies strict and ridiculous ‘rules’. This is shown through ‘Father Miller’s’ character and how although he seems like someone who should be followed, you can’t ever fully trust someone and should always look deeper at what it is you’re following. Just because society give the impression it’s a ‘rule’ it’s just an opinion and that doesn’t mean it’s correct. This show provokes thought and reminds you that change is imperative. Don’t miss out on this moving piece of theatre.