REVIEW: MAN IN THE RAIN by Tony Bell at Brockley Jack Studio Theatre 19 – 30 November 2024

‘Deftly conveyed autobiographical one hander’ ★★★ ½ 

This poignant one man play is unashamedly autobiographical, illustrated with a lot of home movie footage of the actor/playwright’s family. It just about stops short of self indulgence but feels uncomfortably personal in places.

The structure, however, is neat. Bell is delivering a eulogy at the funeral of his father Alan who died in 2018. Part of that is that he, as an actor, should deliver the Seven Ages of Man speech from ‘As You Like it’. He gets overcome and can’t continue which pitches us into flashbacks from his babyhood through to the death of his father. And of course we end up back at the funeral which is, effectively a framing device.

This is not, however, maudlin hagiography – far from it. The grit in this play comes from the fact that Alan, a research mathematician, was a complex character and a difficult man to live with. There were constant quarrels with his wife Dorothy, a teacher, desperately wanting to use her skills: they met at Cambridge and are both academically talented. He was given to occasional violence and putting down both his wife and son. At other times he tried to be reasonable but it always seemed false. Both parents tried to encourage their son’s acting ambitions but never quite managed to sound sincere. 

All of this is deftly conveyed by Tony Bell, who is an accomplished actor, able to change character with minimal costume tweaks and a good range of voices. Through him we meet his father, obviously, along with his mother, grandfather, the bullies at school and others. And it’s all pretty convincing. The account of trying to get to the hospital when his mother is dying of cancer but he’s doing panto at Doncaster – and then messing up his role on the day of her funeral is almost unbearably painful.

Man in the Rain is a brave piece of new writing, thoughtfully directed by Caroline Faber.

MAN IN THE RAIN 

Written and performed by Tony Bell

Directed by Caroline Faber

Presented by Quiet Light

Brockley Jack Studio Theatre until 30 November 2024

Box Office: https://brockleyjack.co.uk/jackstudio-entry/man-in-the-rain/