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Louis Sutherland (Steve Richards), Haris Myers (Sean Harding) and Andrew Morrin (Culpepper). Pictures: Robert Day The Rotters’ Club
Birmingham Rep
**** NOVELIST Jonathan Coe hails from
Bromsgrove and studied at Birmingham’s prestigious King Edwards School
in Edgbaston in the 1970s. His influence of this
time and experience are reflected in his novel
The Rotters’ Club,
which portrays a group of school children in Birmingham and the teenage
1970’s experience. Coe’s work was adapted for the stage by Richard
Cameron and presented by the Young REP company in a fiery and witty take
on growing up in a time of political uncertainty and cultural change. This production is an interesting choice for a
cast all under the age of eighteen; 1970’s Britain was far from when
they were born and one would like to think that we have developed as a
country over the past forty years. There may be thoughts that given the youthful age
of these actors, there may be a barrier preventing us feeling the
atmosphere of Birmingham of that time, but this cannot be further than
the truth. Every actor on stage at any given moment presented themselves with a maturity and commitment to the time and era. This production oozed knowledge and it was clear to see that everyone took the time to research and fully understand the cultural paradigm shift within their performances. The actors might not have been there through it all, but their empathy and understanding of the time was a breath of fresh air. The story was predominately set in the fictional
King William’s School in Birmingh Amidst a backdrop of cultural unrest, the cast,
directed by Gwenda Hughes, set a tone that highlighted the typical and
mischievous school time antics. With teenage angst of relationships,
friendships and of course, trying to pass exams, the show was
hilariously funny, thanks to the cheeky playfulness of everyone involved
on stage.
What better concept than to have teenager’s play
characters of their own age. The cast’s on stage rapport was second to
none and this highlighted the production’s hilarious sequences, with
boys playing tricks on teachers or with the script’s comic one-liners. One actor particularly stood out with this. Haris
Myers was certainly a comic genius. In his portrayal of Sean Harding, we
were always guaranteed a laugh. He embodied cheeky Harding perfectly and
also got applause when reading out comments and complaints to the Sixth
Form’s newspaper committee. There was a deep sense of maturity and perception
when the darker moments of the story were portrayed. In a heart stopping
moment just before the interval, the audience were reminded of the
Birmingham Pub Bombings in 1974. Malcolm, played by the hairy Daniel
Carter had ambitions of proposing to his girlfriend Lois Trotter, who
was given emotional brevity by the outstanding Alice McGowan. This was not meant to be as Lois escaped The
Tavern in the Town and Malcolm did not. The set design of Michael Holt
aided this memory in a tasteful and poignant way, when after the sound
of the bomb, dust fell down from the ceiling and took us to a blackout. Racism and political differences were not shied
away from either and the cast presented the matters head-on. This showed
the audience how committed they were to the project; no subject was too
hard for them to handle which certainly is commendable. In an era of political differences and social
unrest, it must be difficult for any cast to not only portray, but to
understand the essence of what a community felt and the situations they
had to face. In this production, The Young REP went above and beyond any
expectation. In a time where none of the cast had any
experience within, we were shown a piece that reminded those who were
around just how tough the struggle was for everyone and gave a wonderful
and heartfelt social and political education to those who were not
there. To 09-04-16 Elizabeth Halpin 05-04-16
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am.
We follow the lives of young teenagers throughout their journey of five
years of school and their ambitions for the future ahead.