Sons and mothers

By SUSAN BUDD

They are alternative universes, the New Zealands of 1954 and 2000. Families that pray and stay together are no longer the norm but in 1954, the year in which Ian Cross' The God Boy is set, the nuclear fam-ily ruled.

Children were seen and not heard and marital miseries were hidden from the neighbours.

Frank Brown, scooting round the Auckland Theatre Company rehearsal rooms on his skateboard, is a typical Kiwi kid of 14, if rather more cool and confident than most.

He is playing Jimmy O'Sullivan, the eponymous God Boy, and Darien Takle (telly mum to Xena: Warrior Princess) is taking the maternal role — in art as in life.

Mother and son agree that their own relationship is totally dissimilar to that in the play. "Nowadays you are more friendly with your whanau. You have less respect and treat your parents like anyone," says Frank. "Yes, yes," comments Takle ruefully. "It is really Mum who tells him off — just like in real life."

She believes that the family relationships depicted in the play are like her own childhood when mother, father and the kids piled into the car and went off to the bach and did everything together.

Her mother stayed at home, did the gardening and the sewing while Dad went off to work. "Nowadays couples staying toge-ther is absolutely — whoo-wee."

Frank agrees that many of his friends at school have divorced parents but it is no big problem for him or them.

He is unfazed by his first dramatic role although it is huge, with Jimmy onstage for the entire play. He came to rehearsals almost word perfect and is unconcerned about its intensity and the obsessive behaviour of a boy who eventually suffers a psychotic episode. "It's all in the script, really," he says.

He finds many similarities with Jimmy's experience. "Jimmy is like me, with his sister away from home. Mine is 15 years older, but we are close, like the sister in the play. I let her give me a kiss and a hug after she has been away, but Jimmy is still at the age when he thinks, 'Yuk'," says Frank, regarding an 11-year-old from his more mature vantage point.

He relates strongly to Jimmy telling people his problems and being ignored, citing a visit with his father to a "stupid prawn shop" in Whangarei.

"This woman comes up and gives me a kids' menu with balloons and funny faces and all that. I asked for a flat white and she goes, 'What?"'

Takle agrees. "I used to go into a shop with Frank and he would ask for something and they would answer to me. So I looked at Frank and redirected the answer to him. Frank has always been very articulate and could speak for himself."

She made a film a few years ago with her daughter and Martyn Sanderson, who is playing her husband in the play. She loves working with her son and finds it easier. "We have been through all the emotions — been there, done that," she says. "I find it a thrill just getting on the bus and coming into work together — it is really nice to share this."

She is in awe of his abilities and refuses to be nervous for him, concentrating on a role that she finds difficult. "This is the hardest part I have ever had — she doesn't say much."

Frank admits to no nerves, though he does say, "Mu-um," when his mother forgets her lines. A practical boy, he thinks that acting is good fun but probably not a career choice because of the lack of financial rewards. "I don't want to struggle," he says, while Takle mutters, "Like his mother."

In the 1999 Wellington and Christchurch productions of The God Boy, Jimmy was played by actors in their 20s.

Director Stuart Devenie played Jimmy's father in the Wellington production and feels that casting a child in the role makes a huge difference to the play, unlocking the humour buried in a dark thriller. "We are living through his inexperience and naivete and are reminded of our own childhoods," he says.

He feels that because they are both such good actors, the relationship between Frank and Takle is just an extra bonus. "His mother is an actor, his dad [Matthew Brown] a musical director, so he has lifetime experience of the stage. He is very open, of a wonderful independence, with great emotional maturity," he enthuses.

And Frank is far from stagestruck, knowing that his friends are more envious of the money he is earning than the fame.

* The Auckland Theatre Company production of The God Boy runs from July 19 to September 2 at the Herald Theatre.