Mansfield/Touring.

FARM BOY
by Michael Morpurgo adapted by Daniel Buckroyd.

New Perspectives Theatre Company Tour to 9 March 2013.
Runs 1hr 5min No interval.
Review: Alan Geary: 20 October at Palace Theatre Mansfield.

A life-affirming and entertaining sequel to War Horse.
A lot of hardened theatre-goers might be turned off by the publicity for this show. They shouldn’t be. It says “suitable for families and children aged 7+ years”, and so it is. But it’s also nourishing fare for the rest of us.

A two-hander based on the children’s book by Michael Morpurgo, Farm Boy is a direct sequel to his hugely successful War Horse, but you don’t have to have seen the latter to appreciate it.

Grandson (Gareth Bennett-Ryan) is staying with Grandfather (John Walters) – they’re both un-named – on the family farm. Grandfather begins to open up with tales of times past, starting with his own father’s experiences in the Great War; the stuff, in fact, of War Horse. These are half-related, half-performed by two very competent actors.

It’s deeply life-affirming in an entirely non-cheap sense – we’re a world away from something like, for example, Calendar Girls. By the end of the sixty-five minutes we’ve been amused, beguiled, touched and moved exactly as life itself might grab us. There was the time, for instance where Grandfather woke up to find his wife had died in bed beside him; and the time when his own father and mother used a spot of low cunning to win a ploughing contest.

It all happens on a space bare except for a realistic looking ancient Fordson tractor and a chair. Actually, the set’s a little too economical for the requirements of the adaptation: there’s a writing scene which would have benefited from a table.

Farm Boy was adapted and directed for New Perspectives by Daniel Buckroyd, who has, sadly, now left the company.

Grandfather: John Walters.
Grandson: Gareth Bennett-Ryan.

Adapter/Director: Daniel Buckroyd.

Tour:
23 Oct 7pm Crucible Studio Sheffield 0114 249 6000 www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk
26 Oct 7.30pm Number 8 Community Centre Pershore 01386 555488 www.number8.org
27 Oct 2.30pm Corn Exchange Newbury 0845 521 8218 www.cornexchangenew.com
29-30 Oct Mon 7.30pm Tue 2.30pm South Hill Park Bracknell 01344 484123 www.southhillpark.org.uk
31 Oct 2pm & 4.30pm Key Theatre Peterborough 01733 207239 www.vivacity-peterborough.com/venues/key-theatre
1 Nov 1.45pm & 4pm Uppingham Theatre 01572 820820 www.uppthearts.co.uk
2-3 Nov 6pm Mat Sat 1.30pm West Yorkshire Playhouse (Courtyard Theatre) Leeds 0113 213 7700 www.wyp.org.uk
6-10 Nov 7.30pm Mat Wed, Thu 1.30pm; Sat 2.30pm Northcott Theatre Exeter 01392 493493 www.exeternorthcott.co.uk
12 Nov 1.30pm & 7pm Landmark Theatre Ilfracombe 01271 324242 www.northdevontheatres.org.uk
13 Nov 7.45pm Brewhouse Theatre Taunton 01823 283244 www.thebrewhouse.net
14 Nov 8pm Assembly Rooms Ludlow 01584 787141 www.ludlowassemblyrooms.co.uk
15 Nov 7.30pm The Castle Wellingborough 01933 270007 www.thecastle.org.uk
18 Nov 4.30pm Mercury Theatre Colchester 01206 573948 www.mercurytheatre.co.uk
28 Jan 1pm & 6pm Buxton Opera House 0845 127 2190 www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk
30 Jan 7.30pm Alnwick Playhouse 01665 510785 www.alnwickplayhouse.co.uk
31 Jan 7.30pm Brunton Theatre Musselburgh 0131 665 2240 www.bruntontheatre.co.uk
2 Feb 2.30pm Stantonbury Campus Milton Keynes 01908 324422 www.stantonbury.org.uk
4 Feb Farnham Maltings 01252 745444 www.farnhammaltings.com
5 Feb Forest Arts Centre New Milton 01425 612393 www3.hants.gov.uk/forest
6 Feb Dorchester Arts 01305 266926 www.dorchesterfestival.co.uk
7 Feb 1.45pm & 7.45pm Hertford Theatre 01992 531500 www.hertfordtheatre.com
10 Feb 2pm Lakeside Theatre Colchester 01206 873261 www.lakesidetheatre.org.uk
11 Feb 2pm Ropetackle Shoreham-by-Sea 01273 464440 www.ropetacklecentre.co.uk
12 Feb 1.30pm & 7.30pm The Capitol Horsham 01403 750220 www.thecapitolhorsham.com
15-16 Feb Fri 6.45pm Sat 11am & 2pm Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds 01284 769505 www.theatreroyal.org
18-19 Feb Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford 01483 440000 www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk
20 Feb 2.30pm Solihull Arts Complex 0121 704 6962 www.solihull.gov.uk/artscomplex
22 Feb Bridport Arts Centre 01308 424204 www.bridport-arts.com
23 Feb The Plough Arts Centre Great Torrington 01805 624624 www.theploughartscentre.org.uk
26 Feb 1.30pm & 4.30pm Netherton Arts Centre 01384 812846/813943 www.theatresonline.com/theatres/dudley…netherton-arts-centre
27 Feb The Met Bury 00161 761 22216 www.themet.biz
28 Feb 4.30pm & 7.30pm The Carriageworks Leeds 0113 224 3801 www.carriageworkstheatre.org.uk
1 Mar Helmsley Arts Centre 01439 771700 www.helmsleyarts.co.uk
3 Mar Burnley Mechanics 01282 664400 www.burnleymechanics.co.uk
6 Mar The Welfare Ystradgynlais 01639 843163 www.thewelfare.co.uk
7 Mar Park and Dare Theatre Treorchy 08000 147111 www.thevallleys.co.uk/attractions/park-and-dare-theatre
8 Mar 6.30pm The Riverfront Newport 01633 656679/656757 www.newport.gov.uk/theRiverfront
9 Mar 3pm Torch Theatre Milford Haven 01646 695267 www.torchtheatre.co.uk

2012-10-23 12:50:36