Wonder Boy - Tour

When this got announced on tour and reading about it, my original thoughts were not to book as it really didn’t appeal, but after reading reviews on the Bristol Old Vic run and getting some good comments from the critics I took a gamble and booked for a visit at the Liverpool Playhouse last night. After my visit I am so glad I did book for it. At around 90 minutes straight through it is both a really laugh out loud play that deals with the personal impact of stammering of a young lad (Sonny) and sends out a really positive message about overcoming it that is delivered brilliantly by a wonderful cast. For me, it was “The King’s Speech” for a 2024 audience. 

At the heart of the play is young lad Sonny played brilliantly by Hilson Agbangbe who gives the role the right amount of emotional weight one minute and then give a nice comedic moment the next. Though him we see his personal struggles in making himself heard as he tries to overcome his stammer before making an appearance in his school play of Hamlet. Alongside Hilson is Eva Scott as the caring school teacher Wainwright with plenty of silly quips and empathy to support Sonny to get him on the stage and deliver his lines and Sonny’s friend Roshi played last night Hannah Balogun to provide a lot of boisterous humour in her scenes whilst also being able to bring a tenderness to support Sonny when needed. Jessica Murrain’s dual role of Sonny’s mum which gives Sonny’s situation plenty of emotional back story as well as headteacher Fish who came across as very archaic and odd. Finally Ciaran O’Breen as Sonny’s imaginary friend Captain Chatter provides plenty of physical humour to the character. 

With the set dominated by a big video screen which displays all the spoken words so making the play fully accessible to both hearing and deaf audience members, it is a very colourful piece of theatre that hopefully inspires people who stammer and helps people understand the emotional impact it can have on people.

Rating - 4⭐️