Priory Theatre Goodnight Mister Tom review - A moving, uplifting and heartwarming joy on Kenilworth stage

Pathe News reels showed the pain and fear etched on the faces of child evacuees in 1939 in the backdrop at the start of this moving production about damaged people who slowly heal with kindness. East London guttersnipe William (Jacob Reid) is placed with curmudgeonly elderly Tom Oakley (Stuart Lawson), the eponymous Mr Tom.

Jacob and Stuart convey wonderfully their two distinctly different personalities in their respective roles. Jacob conveys William’s timidity and fearfulness as we get hints as to the cause of the multiple bruises on his body, especially when his sparse belongings include a heavy leather belt. Tom’s initial gruffness is not quite as it seems as Stuart gives Tom a hint of caring which grows as the story evolves. There is a wonderful depiction of a slow thawing by each of them of the protective walls they have built around themselves.

Young actors came to the fore with a lively and intentionally over-the-top performance of Zach (Jack Shenton-Thompson) from a theatrical family, misquoting Shakespeare, and George (Alex Prior), Carrie (Isla Coleman) and Ginnie (Erin Tompkins) as local children who also soften to William over time. All the young actors projected well and were fluent in their lines, and looked comfortable on stage.

Natasha Lea was stern but kindly in her role as Mrs Fletcher, and fierce as the nursing sister. Nicky Main brought a lump to the throat if not tears to the eyes of many as William’s harsh and abusive mother, a role which must have been difficult to perform. The phrase “it’s acting, darling” does not do justice to the emotions it conveyed. Puppeteer Connor Cunningham deserves special mention as Sammy the dog. He manoeuvred Sammy so well that he was almost ‘invisible’ as one focussed on Sammy’s movements and vocalisations.

The scenery design, also by the directors, was a revelation, a case of less is more. The set, plain beige and almost empty, interpreted the wartime austerity brilliantly, with upstage flats turning like pages of a book to evoke Tom’s living room, the countryside with fields and clouds, and the burning buildings of the London blitz. Tom Boulton’s lighting design and sound design of George Jones and Selina Davis cleverly evoked a number of scenes: the railway station; the blitz scene in the air raid shelter; and the hospital. Smoke, sound effects and noise were very realistic, creating the chaos and fear with all the cast in apparent tumult in a crowd scene.

The lighting of different parts of the stage also evoked different locations, although occasionally the actor(s) were not standing in quite the right places, and there were some first night hiatuses between actors entering. However the conclusion is wonderfully heartwarming. Again The Priory has delivered a terrific production.

Goodnight Mister Tom, directed by Pete and Rachel Davis, runs until September 12. Visit thepriorytheatre.co.uk or call 0333 666 3366 to book.