''The Boy James'' is a play written by Alexander Wright that opened in 2010 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and featured as part of Belt Up Theatre's 2010 Edinburgh season, The House Above.
Directed by Dominic Allen and produced by Jethro Compton, the play has since been performed in London, across the United Kingdom, and has returned to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
as part of the Belt Up Theatre 2011 season. Critical and public acclaim has led to the show being the longest running of Belt Up Theatre's repertoire, and was one of the two shows that were part of their international debut in the Adelaide Fringe Festival, in 2012 (alongside '' Outland'').
The Play
Inspired by the life and work of
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...
, ''The Boy James'' is the story of one boy's awakening to the harsh realities of adulthood. The play invites the audience to join James as he escapes these harsh realities by traveling in his mind back to
Neverland
Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, and some other imaginary beings and creatures live.
Altho ...
.
''The Boy James'' is presented by Belt Up Theatre, who ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' says are "changing the future of British theatre," and whom
Time Out London
''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide.
In 2012, the London edition becam ...
call "
fringe
Fringe may refer to:
Arts
* Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe"
* Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival
* Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre
* The Fringe, the ...
royalty."
Characters
* "The Boy"
* "The Girl"
* "James"
Cast
2010: Original Edinburgh cast
* Jethro Compton as The Boy
* Veronica Hare as The Girl
* James Wilkes as James
2011: London and Touring cast
* Jethro Compton as The Boy
* Lucy Farrett as The Girl
* James Wilkes as James
2011: Edinburgh cast
* Jethro Compton as The Boy
* Lucy Farrett as The Girl
* Dan Wood as James
2012: London and international cast
* Jethro Compton as The Boy
* Serena Manteghi as The Girl
* Dominic Allen as James
2015: Castle Theatre Company, Durham University
* George Rexstrew as The Boy
* Jenny Walser as The Girl
* Hugh Train as James
Reception
Overall the show has attracted great acclaim by both audience member and reviewer alike, which has led it to several successful runs.
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
tweeted
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that he had "...just been knocked out by The Boy James... Still drying my eyes." and ''
The Stage
''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...
'' called it "Belt Up's finest performance.". In the 2011 presentation ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' noted that Wright's play "reaches out for something he can't grasp," and, "the overall effect is of something almost, but not quite, enchanting.". Its Adelaide production was incredibly favoured, spoken of highly by leading publication
The Adelaide Advertiser
''The Advertiser'' is a daily tabloid format newspaper based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. First published as a broadsheet named ''The South Australian Advertiser'' on 12 July 1858, Jamie Wright.