Performance: The God Boy

Herald Theatre

Review: Susan Budd

The novel by Ian Cross is a New Zealand classic, studied by fifth formers all over the country. The 1950s tale of an 11-year-old boy caught in the midst of a grim war of attrition between his parents is now viewed through a haze of nostalgia.

Distance lends enchantment, and a golden light, created beautifully by lighting designer Bryan Caldwell, often suffuses the oases of joy in Jimmy Sullivan's sad life. In Stuart Devenie's production, the radio plays constantly, providing a warm, folksy background to the Gothic tale of marital hatred and murder.

The casting of a young boy makes Jimmy's martyrdom more real, comic and moving. Frank Brown captures beautifully the naivete of a child bewildered by adult behaviour, unaware of the savagery underlying familial discourse. He is bright, intelligent and in terrible pain that erupts in obsessive rituals intended to avert evil.

The casting of young men in the Wellington and Christchurch productions last year created an ironic distance that lent the play more depth. Greater realism exposes the flaws in the leap from page to stage. Although we are moved by Jimmy's agony, the progress of the play is often stiff and slow, the coda too long and anti-climactic.

Devenie's production is sensitive and well-orchestrated, drawing fine performances from the cast.

As Tom Sullivan, Michael Keir-Morrissey portrays a drunken sot, dangerously veering from joviality to savagery, who gives very occasional glimpses of the youthful charm that drew his wife. Darien Takle, in a very underwritten role, charts the progress of Flo Sullivan from misery to total degradation with skill and passion.

Martyn Sanderson, Natalie Dennis and Elizabeth McRae all shine on Ross Joblin's well-designed, wedge-shaped set.