Laughing Boy – Jermyn Street Theatre, London

Writer and director: Stephen Unwin

In essence, Laughing Boy, Stephen Unwin’s new 100-minute one-act play, is a dramatised documentary. However, the vitality of the writer/director’s production blows away the dryness that can be associated with such a format and elevates it to a level at which information and entertainment are delivered in equal measures.

The play’s source is Justice for Laughing Boy, a book by Sara Ryan, an Oxford academic with a serious grievance to air. Janie Dee plays her with a sense of tempered rage, impassioned but, at most times, rational. Sara’s son, Connor Sparrowhawk, dies at the age of 18 in 2013, drowning in a bath at a National Health Service residential unit. Connor has learning disabilities and he suffers from epilepsy. The play traces Sara’s journey towards uncovering the truth about what happened to Connor and then seeking justice on his behalf.

Connor, a lover of buses and lorries, is present on stage throughout the play. Alfie Friedman shows remarkable range in playing him, giving us glimpses into the world that he inhabits as he moves from a gentle and vulnerable boy to an unmanageable and occasionally violent teenager. Most importantly, he brings out the “magic” that endears Connor so much to his family and others

A white screen envelops the small stage in Simon Higlett’s set design and images are projected onto it. Forbes Masson plays Rich, Sara’s partner and support through her ordeals. This leaves four actors – Lee Braithwaite, Charlie Ives, Molly Osborne and Daniel Rainford – to play all other characters in the story plus a Jack Russell Terrier. It is their energy that injects life into the production.

This is a story of failures in care by supposed carers and disrespect for the basic human rights of society’s most vulnerable members. Inquests and enquiries follow over a period of years and the writer points the finger of blame at medical malpractice, overstretched resources, underfunding, etc, leaving no room for arguments to be balanced. The play is presented as one woman’s campaign to battle through the excuses and cover-ups to find truth and accountability.

This is gripping and thought-provoking stuff. Yes, the play’s final sections drag on for far too long. but dragging on for far too long is precisely what much of this distressing story is about.

Runs until 31 May 2024