Writer: David Walliams
Adaptor and Director: Neal Foster
Music: Jak Poore
Money can’t buy happiness – a hard lesson 12 year old Joe Spud learns throughout the duration of this performance. He’s the richest boy in the country, he goes to the best school in the country and Daddy is more than happy to buy him anything he wants. But Joe finds he really wants something money can’t buy: a real friend.
Birmingham Stage Company, the company who brought us the award winning David Walliams’ Gangsta Granny, are back with another of his immensely successful children’s books, Billionaire Boy.
It’s no surprise that Billionaire Boy is nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Family Show. From the outset, the show perfectly brings together Walliams’ famous witty story telling with an energetic, adaptable, strong cast; working together to present many different characters. Like all of Walliams’ books, the story presents a simple but useful moral, and a story set around a toilet roll entrepreneur lays way for many a ‘poo joke’ to the delight of the young audience.
There are songs throughout, composed by Jak Poore, which really help to keep the pace of the story and at times distract from scene changes. The songs are simple yet effective and keep the audience engaged whilst providing chance for the characters to really come to life. A great example is when Mrs Trafe (Amy Hargreaves), the school dinner lady sings about her peculiar menu, including deep fried blu tack.
The relationship between the boys, Joe (Matthew Gordon) and Bob (Jake Lomas), is heart-warming. They work well together to portray a warmth and innocence of the age of children they’re playing. Tonight’s standout performance was from Amy Hargreaves, actually the understudy to the character Mrs Trafe. She played the hilarious character with high energy and perfect comic timing.
The stage design by Jackie Trousdale is imaginative and adaptable, it spins around and folds out to transport the audience to different places, even allowing for a helicopter to land right in the middle of Bum Fresh towers, a highlight of the show. For a set made mainly out of loo roll, it’s really quite remarkable.
Billionaire Boy is a great family show that is sure to be enjoyed by all the family, but particularly by fans of Walliams’ books.
Runs until 23rd July 2022, before continuing on tour until 13th August 2022.
The Reviews Hub Score
Silly with a strong moral
