Anthem for doomed youth? Don’t Destroy Me, Arcola Theatre

Eddie Boyce and Nell Williams

All children whose parents have been busted up by war – never are the same. We’re a special breed.

Offie Award winning Two’s Company are known for restaging almost forgotten plays and in this case have revived Don’t Destroy Me by pioneering Jewish writer Michael Hastings written and first performed in 1956 and steeped in the post-war Jewish experience in ways that, sadly remain ever pertinent across the divides of faith and secular politics. This is the first time the play has been staged since.

One of the characters, a 17-year-old woman called Suki (Nell Williams, part of a very strong and experienced cast) keeps on insisting that there is a world outside the windows of the claustrophobic Brixton apartment block where the actions take place but you’d barely know it such is the pressure the older generations apply to their children and to each other. 

Almost everyone is still traumatised by the war a decade after it was finished and the full truth of its atrocities became known. Some bury themselves in routine or trust in the old faith whilst some self-medicate with excessive alcohol and there are those who have simply lost their minds. Troubled by his own upbringing and post-war disappointments, Hastings, was just 18 at the time he wrote this play, and, as William Burrows once said, tried to write himself out of it… There are no easy answers: it is a fiercely honest play and one that refuses to offer the audience the false comforts of a simple resolution.

Paul Rider, photo from Phil Gammon

Given the age of the playwright, it’s entirely fitting that young Eddie Boyce, makes their professional stage debut as Hastings Sammy and what a splendid job he makes of it too. Sammy is 15 and returning to his father Leo (Paul Rider) after growing up in Croydon with his aunt. Leo lives unhappily married to Shani (Natalie Barclay) who is just 29 (or possibly 31) and a generation younger. She married Leo out of convenience, a means to escape Hungary after the war whilst Leo wanted a “mother” for his son after his mother died. The two live in unhappy disharmony, sniping at each other as she relishes her leisure time and he drinks to forget the daytime and the disasters of the past.

But they are just two of the inmates in this odd tenement with a mentally disturbed mother, Mrs Pond (Alix Dunmore) living in the top flat with her daughter Suki with the two almost incapable of connecting. Mrs Pond lost her husband or lover near the end of the War and as her exasperated landlady and former best friend Mrs Miller (Sue Kelvin) says, words just won’t stick in her head and no conversation is ever run to neurotypical rules as Mrs Pond’s mind moves in and out of focus.

Completing the household is George (Timothy O’Hara) a happy-go-lucky bookie who is more than happy to make the most of his luck with Shani. He’s forever popping into his neighbour’s flat much to Leo’s chagrin who shoos him off and then goes for a "walk", straight to the pub.

Into this mix is added young Sammy whose addition to the family is quickly problematic as Leo cannot seem to communicate with him especially over his choice of boisterous jazz records. Shani has the opposite issue as, far nearer Sammi’s age but still a half-generation distant, she over communicates and smothers him with advice and good intentions. Trying to find his way Sammi asks for the local Rabbi (Nicholas Day) to visit and them events really do intensify as preparations are made, arguments are had and tea, cake and sandwiches prepared… The problem for Sammi – and Suki – is if the grown-ups are not only stuck in the past but unwilling to move on, what future can there be for them?

Eddie Boyce and Nicholas Day All shots by Phil Gammon. 

IThankYou Theatre Rating: ****

This is an outstanding debut play from Hastings and if it drifts from time to time over the two hours running time is swiftly gets back on track. As the youngest and possibly angriest of the emerging Angry Young Men – John Osborne was 27 at this point – the playwright has a lot of anger to express and is forcefully on point for the inability to escape the past, consolidate the now and work out a future that isn’t just a tribute act for the societal mores of a generation subsumed in conflict and loss.

Tricia Thorns directs with a forensic eye for period sensibilities and choreographs her players so well in the playing area created by Alex Marker’s inventive set design: they not only fit the interior of a Victorian townhouse into the Arcola stage, but make us all feel apart of it, almost embarrassed by the family truths and discomforts played out closely in front of us. 

Eddie Boyce is extraordinary in this position and it’s not understatement to say that he does not look out of place in this highly skilled and forceful set of players!

Don’t Destroy Me runs at the Arcola until 3rd February and I’d recommend you check out their website immediately for tickets and more information.

Eddie Boyce, Timothy O'Hara and Nathalie Barclay. Shot, Phil Gammon.

Alix Dunmore and Sue Kelvin. Photo Phil Gammon.