All in a Row at Southwark Playhouse | Review
It’s not often a play causes so much controversy – even an online petition to have it pulled – before it even opens. But this has been the case with Alex Oates’ production All in a Row which has received its world premiere at Southwark Playhouse.
This is the story of Tam (Charlie Brooks), Martin (Simon Lipkin) and their eleven-year-old son Laurence (Hugh Purves (Puppeteer). Laurence is severely autistic. His autism is so bad that he can only communicate in a series of grunts and a form of sign language and, in addition to his parents, needs the assistance of a paid carer, Gary (Michael Fox). The parents love their son and cope with his condition in their own way. Tam is a high flying entrepreneur and motivational speaker who likes to relax with a glass of wine at the end of the day, while Martin is a stay-at-home dad who allows his mind to wander, often with a little stimulus, and has weird random thoughts, for example, his idea about a new direction to take Disney movies is definitely thinking out of the box. Gary and Laurence have a good relationship but even a professional like him he can be caught off-guard by the lad when he has one of his episodes. But now, everything is going to change. Laurence is going away to a new school. This isn’t Tam and Martin’s idea, but is the result of an intervention by Social Services reacting to a tip-off that something was amiss with Laurence. On the night before he is due to go, Laurence is doing what he loves, eating pizza and watching Finding Nemo, while the adults prepare for a future without him.
Alex Oates has written a hard-hitting and very emotional story that really examines the lives of people coping with a severely autistic child. All of the characters are fully developed and very believable, as is the overarching situation they find themselves in.
Let’s start with the main topic of controversy, the use of a puppet to portray Laurence. I’m not going to get too heavily involved in this but I would say to those that have raised their voices in anger, please go and see the play before you rush to judge. I honestly believe that no child actor – whether autistic or not – could do everything that is demanded of Laurence in the play. It is an amazingly intense role in an extremely intense and emotional play. Puppeteer Hugh Purves is absolutely fantastic as Laurence, bringing the boy to life and making the half puppet – live and breathe and exist as a person. When watching, at times it’s really easy to forget that Hugh is there, so well is his and the cast’s interaction with Laurence. And speaking of the cast, the other three are all amazing. Charlie Brooks’ Tam is a hard driven woman and Simon Lipkin’s Martin is a man permanently on the edge, never sure what his son will do and, it appeared to me, feeling some resentment at how well Gary interacts with Laurence. Together the two actors really show the strains that occur in a marriage where, on some level, each blames the other – and possibly themselves – for their son’s condition. Now, I’ve never wanted children or really felt any affinity to people that do, but watching Charlie and Simon’s performance, I was drawn into their world and found myself speculating on how I would handle their situation. Michael Fox has a difficult role with Gary. He is an outsider to the family, paid to be there, but after two years of looking after Laurence, he is a confidant to both parents. Michael makes Gary instantly likeable and it would be easy in the initial part of the play to dismiss the character but, in fact, there are points where it feels like Gary is the glue that keeps everyone together. He is good humoured, sensible and very human – prone to making some interesting gaffs when talking about his thoughts. But underneath all that, Gary is a professional carer and Michael really makes sure that side of him comes across as well. Interestingly, all three characters made some awful comments at times but, while they potentially could offend – and there were a couple of times I had my head in my hands – they ultimately show the humanity of people who have, been in each other’s company for too long.
PJ McEvoy’s open-plan kitchen-sitting room set is nicely used by Dominic Shaw’s sensitive direction which pulls no punches when it has to and the accompaniment of Rachel Sampley’s lights – especially the back wall – and Ben Collins’ sound design really move the emotional lever up to the highest notch as the story unfolds. The runtime is ninety minutes and the time flies by so that I was a bit surprised when we arrived at the, for me, tear-jerking end.
I do think that it is a pity that the row over the casting of Laurence has taken so much of the publicity away from All in a Row. This is, ultimately, a well researched and written story of a family on the edge that delivers an emotional and hard-hitting – if not always comfortable – window into a world we all hope never to experience for ourselves.
Review by Terry Eastham for London Theatre 1
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