Humble Boy

The decease of the Humble family's head, James, has brought together his son and widow; her suitor; and the suitor's daughter in a love–hate quadrangle that has thrived on secrecy, pretence, and hypocrisy, all of which James's death exposes in a morality play that's beautifully staged, often funny, and always truthful.

The brilliant script, marred by little more than overemphasis on arbitrary flaws, has received equally interesting direction, marred by little more than acquiescence to such irrelevancies.  James Scott, playing the bereaved son, conveyed eloquently in facial expression alone the journey from social doubtfire to social comforter that events pushed him to undertake; underscoring it through additional artifices merely added overemphasis.  This aside, the characters' revelations and a clever twist or two gave the play a reality with satisfying depth.

Jasan Savage was utterly natural and convincing as Jim, the gardener; but the truly outstanding actor of this piece must be Helen Vaughan-Roberts, in her role as family friend Mercy.  Mercy is the salt in this family's soup, demanding emotional honesty through her generosity of spirit, but plays little part in moving the plot forward.  Even so, the emotional realism that Vaughan-Roberts infused her with drew more empathy for her character than most of the other characters combined: quite an achievement in a supporting role.

Well worth while.

John P. Harvey

Photo: Naoné Carrel and James Scott, in Humble Boy.  Photographer: Cliff Spong.

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