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David and Goliath story offers heartwarming glimpses of the past

  • Writer: Annette Kinsella
    Annette Kinsella
  • 6 hours ago
  • 2 min read

Michael Morpurgo’s Farm Boy, adapted and directed by Daniel Buckroyd. At The Albany Theatre, Coventry from 25 - 27 April. A Lichfield Garrick Production.

Review by Annette Kinsella.

 

Who doesn’t like a David and Goliath story, where the underdog comes up trumps? Certainly not author Michael Murpurgo, if the stage adaptation of his book Farm Boy, currently at the Albany Theatre. Is anything to go by. The two-man, 60-minute sequel to the runaway success War Horse, picks up the story of Albert and his loyal horse Joey, home from the First World War to work the farm.


Told via Albert’s great-grandson (Jonathan Houlston) and his grandfather (Alan Booty), the show begins with a recap of the events of War Horse, before turning to the present-day grandfather’s struggle with literacy and finally returning to the last century with a rollicking against-the-odds story of a tractor-horse ploughing race in which man defeats machine. It’s almost like the hare and the tortoise, if the hare was drunk on Scrumpy Jack cider and had the tractor driving skills of Frank Spencer.


The pace of the show was gentle, offering a glimpse of the bucolic rural idyll of times past. However, at times it was too gentle - the beginning section in particular in which the original War Horse story was recounted dragged on somewhat, while the condensed narrative illuminated just how saccharine-sweet Morpurgo’s stories can be. That said, Fi Russell’s set made up for the shortcomings of the script, with the hay-strewn barn and ancient Fordson tractor expertly transporting the audience to the last century. And the tender inter-generational relationship between grandson and grandfather was truly heartwarming.


Overall, this play may not pack the same punch of War Horse, and may require the willing suspension of disbelief, but it’s a pleasant diversion into simpler times for a modern audience. 


For times and tickets (including matinee performances) go to:  https://www.albanytheatre.co.uk/shows/farm-boy/


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