Joe Harbot’s The Boy On The Swing is the fourth and final production of this year’s Directors’ Cuts season from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. The premise of this play is a clever one: We live in a consumerist society so, given that our deities are made in our own image, God is surely the head of a business corporation. If you want to see Him you are going to have to pay! Earl (Peter Edwards) is a factory production line supervisor who finds an unusual business card. He rings the number on the card and finds himself instantly trapped in a very funny Pinteresque dialogue with a fast-talking and very intimidating salesman. Before he knows it, he has given his address and his credit card details. Earl’s hapless lack of effective resistance will be all too familiar to anyone who has found themselves trapped by their own diffidence when given the hard sell.
With bewildering rapidity Earl finds himself drawn into the strange and disorienting world of ‘The Hope and Trust Foundation’. What follows is essentially a series of interrogations and tests that Earl must complete before having his promised face-to-face with God. He meets receptionist Jim (Harry Egan) who, as an atheist, literally has no faith in the product that the company is selling. Then there’s Donald (Karl Wilson), an amalgam of every smooth- talking rep you’ve ever met, who convinces Earl that he needs to meet God because he’s lonely and unfulfilled. Earl learns that God will act as a ‘metaphorical Polyfilla, filling in the cracks in a broken heart’. In a scene initially reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch Earl has an absurd encounter with middle manager William (Dominic Allen), an over-excitable and petulant player of silly games. But the mood shifts, and William becomes a vicious bully. Finally, Earl does indeed get to meet God. Or does he?
Frequently funny, sometimes disturbing and most decidedly unusual, The Boy On The Swing offers a sharply intelligent commentary on passive consumerism. Earl is all too easily persuaded by The Hope and Trust Foundation that a meeting with God is a product that he must have, and he quiescently jumps through all the ridiculous hoops that they put in his way before he can have it. But therein lies a problem. Because Earl is an Everyman, a generalized figure who represents all of us unindividuated consumers, this bland role gives the actor playing it very little scope for creating a three-dimensional character with a personal history.
Peter Edwards makes the most of the few opportunities he has to give substance to Earl’s personality, and I particularly liked his nostalgic recollection of the children’s playground where he used to try to swing as high as possible, ‘but you can never get past a certain point’. In contrast, the other roles are full of possibilities. Harry Egan is wonderfully weird as receptionist Jim, and Karl Wilson delivers Donald’s sales patter with a powerful mix of warmth and menace. Most impressive of all is Dominic Allen as the dangerously unpredictable William. Director Laura Jasper has created a fast-moving, energetic production, and her actors do her proud. The 2015 Directors’ Cuts season has yet again shown that year on year the BOVTS produces graduates of the very highest quality. ★★★☆☆ Mike Whitton 21/05/15
