JADAR

After the party is over, how long do we have to clean up the mess? Boys is a striking look at the lives of Benny (Olly Rhodes), Timp (Paddy Stafford), Mack (Rafe Slade) and Cam (Harvey Weedon), waking up on the doorstep of their future. With too much ambition and little follow through, Boys lacked the fundamental structure of its writing to have it hold up in today’s modern landscape.

Following the smashing success of Mojo and Orphans, Red Brick Theatre Company is making the Manchester premiere of Ella Hickson’s Boys at the King’s Arms Theatre. Boys follows a group of friends and lovers as they make their transition from university life into adulthood. Set in Scotland during the waste management strike, audiences see a wry look at bitter young adults figuring out what it means to grow up, to stand up for what they believe in, and to make uncertain choices about their future. This piece is produced by Up ‘Ere Productions, King’s Arms Salford, and Red Brick Theatre, and directed by Oli Hurst.

Immediately, it must be said that the content warnings were inaccurate to the production, and the failure to highlight accurate trigger warnings is a misstep. The story revolves heavily around drug abuse and alcoholism, neither of which are mentioned in the content warnings hung outside of the theatre, or in the description of the show. Not mentioning extreme discussions of sexual assault is troubling, particularly becuase of the manner in which it is written. It takes away autonomy of audiences and does not allow someone the choice to engage in this content.

To highlight the excellent work of this production, however, is absolutely necessary. Christopher Brown, intimacy coordinator, did an excellent job directing and choreographing believable movement between the characters including violent lifts, soft moments of love, tackles and playfulness amongst the cast. Their work was noticeable.

I found the immersive elements of the show to be distinctive; Hurst has a way of involving audiences in his productions, particularly with the busy staging that had something to view in every corner.

Additionally, the acting performances were high spirited and largely believable. There were few moments of rest for the cast, as the show was a physical feat, particularly for Olly Rhodes (Benny), who left the stage only a few times throughout the two and a half hour long show. Hope Yolanda as Laura was  brilliant, once again, delivering a beautiful cacophony of emotions throughout the piece. Megan Keaveny was fabulous and delivered an excellent interpretation of a young woman experiencing the weight of grief, or seemingly lack thereof. Her acting floated between hopelessly in love, poetically versed, to intensely traumatized party girl. Paddy Stafford as Timp provided excellent comedic relief, though extreme in its nature, he somehow made an extremely unlikeable individual an enjoyable presence. Harvey Weedon, Cam, played a naive presence on stage, and portrayed a variety of intense emotions extremely well. Finally, Rafe Slade (Mack) rounded out the cast as the emotionally distant and angry final member of the flat, playing a character we are meant to hate is extremely difficult, then opening up to his vulnerability, was impressive. Hurst’s work is rife with physical work and he has an innate ability to navigate overlapping conversations casually, which was a prominent skill in this show.

This piece seemed to divide audiences distinctly in one of two directions, and I found the risks in the script to be disproportionate to the outcome in the narrative. I found the writing to flaunt sexual violence, drug abuse and suicide without making any formal statement or analysis about it. One of my personal pet peeves is the repeated use of slurs and overtly offensive language to dictate a character as unlikable. I find this method of writing distasteful and harmful. Marking a character as unlikeable by having them use language bursting with bigotry and discrimination is lazy and makes me question the conception of the show overall. To me, the female characters were two-dimensional in their desires, acting solely as props for the men on stage. Despite this intention in the script, there was no battling this belief in the direction of the piece, which disappointed me.

The transitions both scenically and within the writing were choppy and lacked clear emotional care. The first act ended abruptly, in the middle of a fight between the entire cast when Benny stands in the corner of the room and declares, “I want to know why my brother killed himself!,” but lacked any emotional follow through or adaptation of emotion later on. I was left feeling uncomfortable and like several plots were left unfinished, perhaps intentionally but overly unsatisfying. 

Perhaps a fault to the script was the lack of connection between the characters and a general disbelief in their relationships. I felt little reason to care for the characters because of the extremities described in the script, including an opening introduction to Mack where the audience is told he slept with a 17 year old girl whilst being 23. The casual demeanor in which this offense is brought up was quick, casual and lacking critical analysis, creating a general sense of unease for the story overall. This may have been the initial intention for the playwright and with the director of this piece, but I found it difficult to sympathize with the characters due to the heavy depiction of their flaws. As a young woman, watching a room of men laugh at the concept of characters sleeping with young women, laughing about the effects of drug abuse, cheating on their partners and displaying behavior on the border of emotional abuse, lying to and about their friends was awkward. 

I struggled with the second act but found it less intense than act one. I found the constant repetition of the making of tea, the consumption of drugs and the excessive fluttering to the window to act as if characters weren’t given instruction on how to fill the space.

Overall, the show felt disjointed in its intention and overly ambitious in the themes being presented, with very little emotional grounding to lend itself to. I do believe the acting performances speak for the show, and I enjoyed watching the actors scream, cry, soften, dance, jump and move in the space with emotional extremes in all directions. If you are looking to see the show, I would recommend a thorough perusal of the themes and critical engagement with yourself on how we willingly witness and engage with toxic masculinity, rape and cheating culture, both as individuals and as consumers of media. For me, the lack of analysis on these topics greatly impacted the show and made it difficult for me to enjoy.