59E59 Theatres welcomed the return of the New Perspective Theatre Company to their “Brits Off Broadway” festival with the American premiere of Michael Morpurgo’s Farm Boy. Adapted as well as Directed by Daniel Buckroyd, Farm Boy opened December 13, and runs for limited time. A sequel to Morpurgo’s acclaimed novel War Horse, Farm Boy accounts the changing face of the English countryside as technology clashes with rural heritage.
The timing of this production could not be more perfect (as well as probably planned). Following the wildly successful Broadway production of War Horse as well as Steven Spielberg’s major motion picture adaptation of the same, if there’s one thing Americans love, it’s all things Michael Morpurgo. Regarding Morpurgo’ attempt at a sequel, Farm Boy is a pretty darn good follow-up to War Horse. The characters are dynamic and sympathetic. Farm Boy does an elegant job of showing us the universality of the themes of love and fulfillment first presented in War Horse.
The American premiere of Farm Boy was really well done overall. Having to take on Morpurgo’s sweeping world and not being blessed with Spielberg’s budget, I felt the lighting, the set and the production’s original music were simple, crisp and really added to the dimensionality of the world. This production features John Walters and Richard Pryal, as “Grandfather” and “Grandson” respectively. Both actors did a superb job of grabbing the audience from the top of the show and holding them with their compassion and humor.
If there were one draw back to the production, it would have to be the written elements of the stage adaptation by Buckroyd. If he hit a home run directorially, his writing was at best a suicide bunt. For a show that is seventy-minutes minutes long, spending over fifteen-minutes explaining the backstory of War Horse seems like a horrendous waste of time. His script didn’t allow the actors to sink their teeth into any action for at least 30 minutes of the piece. I understand fearing that your audience is not going to understanding your backstory. Nonetheless, when your backstory is as popular as War Horse, there has to be a more concise way of navigating it.
Farm Boy is worth your theatre-going time, especially if you are a War Horse fan. Nonetheless, Buckroyd’s adaptation has way more exposition than I would personally care for. Farm Boy runs now through January 1st at 59E59 and tickets are available through Ticket Central. If anything, I hope this still inspires you to check out rest of the “Brits Off Broadway” festival at 59E59 throughout the upcoming holiday.
