The Drawer Boy
by Michael Healey.
Directed by Zac
Bridgman. Stage Manager; Rhiley Winnett. Lighting design: Rhiley Winnett and
Zac Bridgman. Sound design: Rhiley Winnett, Zac Bridgman and Chris baldock. Set
design: Chris Baldock. Set realization: Chris Baldock, Richard Manning and cast
and crew. Projections: Chris Baldock. Projection, Sound and Lighting Opration:
Rhiley Winnett. Costumes: cast, Props
Chris Baldock, Richard Manning, cast and crew. Publicity: Chris Baldock. Mockingbird Theatre Company. The Theatre Belconnen Arts Centre. Bookings: www.mockingbirdtheatrics.com
Reviewed by
Peter Wilkins
Scenes from
Michael Healey’s play The Drawer Boy
keep recurring in my mind. Such is the beauty and the power of Mockingbird
Theatre Company’s production of the award winning Canadian play. Healey’s play
centres on two bachelor farmers, Angus (Chris Baldock) and Morgan (Richard
Manning), who run a dairy and chicken farm in a rural county of Canada. One
day, young aspiring playwright, Miles (Callum Doherty) arrives with a request
to stay with them at the farm so that he can learn about rural life on a farm
as research for his play that is about to go into rehearsal.
 |
| Chris Baldock (Angus) and Callum Doherty (Miles) in The Drawer Boy |
Healey’s ingenious dramatic device of introducing a perfect stranger into the routine life of the two men is the catalyst for a confrontation with past memories, secrets and lies that threaten to tear the farmers’ friendship apart. Miles’s probing of the causes of Angus’s wartime brain injury that has affected his memory threatens to fracture the security of Morgan’s protective account of the circumstances and reveal a very different truth.
 |
| Richard Manning (Morgan) in The Drawer Boy |
In the intimate setting of Mockingbird’s studio theatre, Healey’s play, under the sensitive direction of Zac Bridgman, offers a poignant commentary on compassion. Is deception preferable to the revelation of painful memory? Are the bonds that hold a friendship together more important than the truths that can tear it apart? Can the cathartic power of awareness heal guilt’s pain? Is the exposure of a lie the ultimate consequence of a concealed reality? As the plot unfolds and Angus’s memory wanes and waxes in an extraordinary working of the human brain the audience is caught in a Socratic debate on the virtue of honesty. I sat transfixed by a performance that was real, engaging, touching and compelling.
 |
| Chris Baldock (Angus) in The Drawer Boy |
Director Bridgman’s cast of three give outstanding performances. Baldock offers a masterclass in acting with his riveting portrayal of the simple Angus, bewildered in his confusion, disorientated in his haze of forgetfulness and yet in phenomenal command of numbers and arithmetic. He charts with total confusion an emotional rollercoaster journey from whimpering confusion to animated excitement to insistent rage. The Drawer Boy is worth the price of a ticket alone just to see Baldock’s performance of Healey’s character.
 |
| Callum Doherty (Miles) in The Drawer Boy |
As Angus’s lifelong mate and protector with a painful secret, Manning is the ideal foil, straight, stoic and down to earth. He bears the weight of responsibility with the gravitas of a caring and concerned mate and Manning’s natural performance is thoroughly convincing.
Miles is Healey’s
influencer. It is he who disrupts the ordered state of affairs and unwittingly sets
in motion the ensuing turmoil of events and revelations. As Miles, Doherty exudes enthusiastic naivety and perplexed
gullibility with all the impulse of erratic youthfulness. At times his speedy
delivery of dialogue though true to character lost the words in impetuous
eagerness.
 |
| Richard Manning and Chris Baldock in The Drawer Boy |
In spite of limited resources, Mockingbird’s production team has created an excellent set, lighting and costume design and creation. The use of projection for farmyard setting, the sounds of cows mooing and hens clucking and such soundtracks of country and western and an arrangement of The House of the Rising Sun lend the production authenticity and atmosphere. All in all Mockingbird Theatre Company’s production of The Drawer Boy is not to be missed and will remain with you in your memory and your heart long after you have left the theatre.
