On Thursday 22nd of March when my mum announced she had got tickets to see Humble Boy at the Orange tree theatre I can’t lie, I wasn’t too enthusiastic. As I filed into the theatre, surrounded by people of let’s just say, the older generation, my enthusiasm dipped further. However, I was in for a pleasant surprise.
I can say that I genuinely and thoroughly enjoyed the production. The characters were completely brilliant and believable, the story was very entertaining and generally, I would highly recommend the play.
It follows the story of Felix, a university academic, who comes back to his family home following the death of his father. His mother, Flora, doesn’t appear to be terribly upset by the death of her husband and is planning to marry her old flame George. Add into the mix Rosie, George’s daughter and Felix’s ex-girlfriend as well as Mercy, Flora’s faithful friend that harbours secret feelings for George, and you can expect a wild, chaotically humorous play.
Despite the funny nature of the performance there were also some hard-hitting, sentimental moments. Throughout there is a running theme of bees and botany, which all come together at the end to make perfect, poignant sense. There is a sudden shocking reveal and Flora has a profound revelation. I admit, I did leave the theatre in tears.
This play was superb, and I consider myself to be quite a harsh critic.
