Writer: James Hogan
Director: Alex Jackson
Northbound Boy is one of King’s Head Theatre’s most high-profile productions since reopening at the start of the year. With a cast of celebrity faces and a reimagined Main House layout, anticipation is high for this comedy journey which ultimately yields mixed results.
Neil Ashton, who audiences might recognise from It’s A Sin, is Ken – a 40-year-old gay man who has been suspended from his job in the justice system. A recent bereavement has Ken heading Lancashire-way when he picks up laddish hitch-hiker Rory, played by Heartstopper’s Cormac Hyde-Corrin. Ashton and Hyde-Corrin struggle to bounce off of each other during the opening scene of the show. The audience is thrown into the deep end, joining the action mid-argument, and the lack of chemistry between the pair impairs their ability to establish a clear connection.
Sarah Moyle, upon introduction as Ken’s hostile Aunt Ivy, offers instant gratification as an unlikeable character played with complete conviction. While it takes longer to get a grasp on the central pair, Moyle establishes her sharp, cold personality quickly. Yet, Ivy’s eventual character development feels thinly written and somewhat underserved, while Ken and Rory evolve in a more genuine way.
There are a number of laugh-out-loud moments which secure Northbound Boy’s reputation as an undeniable crowd-pleaser. James Hogan’s script is riddled with wit, in fact, and more should be done to celebrate this. Certain punchlines are run-through without proper acknowledgement or, on some unfortunate occasions, simply fumbled, never to reach their full potential. This responsibility sits in part with the performers, who gradually build upon their uneasy rapport, but Alex Jackson’s directorial eye could also have picked this up.
Towards the conclusion of Northbound Boy, when it seems that all has been lost, Ashton and Hyde-Corrin finally find something really special. The pair abandons their disjointed banter and, like a switch has been flicked, there is endless chemistry between them. As they exchange glances which are so loaded with care, vulnerability and desire, it is impossible not to feel butterflies.
Good romance can be a tricky thing to execute, but if you get it right – even just for a moment – it can make sense of the most unlikely pairing. Northbound Boy is quite the bumpy journey of a production, yet when all is said and done, it offers an unexpectedly endearing destination.
Runs until 1 September 2024
The Reviews Hub Score
Disjointed
