Wednesday 1 May 2024

Driving the bus… Laughing Boy, Jermyn Street Theatre

This adaptation will bring what should be a national scandal to new audiences. I look forward to the laughter, the love and the sheer brilliance it will encapsulate, while packing a mighty punch.

Professor Sara Ryan

Some plays you watch with a kind of detached engagement, invested in the characters and plot but letting your admiration for the skill and performance professionalism. Others, far rarer, hit home in deeply personal ways and, like this one, make you tear up with pride for the actors on stage and in sympathy with the people they represent.

Connor Sparrowhawk was present throughout Stephen Unwin’s extraordinary transfer to stage of the book Justice for Laughing Boy written by Connor’s mother, Professor Sara Ryan, as was his entire family, including his beloved Mum. They were seen in projections on a large white background, Connor at an early birthday party, the family seen together after their triumph in the courts and in snippets of media appearances as they fought for justice… Connor’s funeral.

Connor was killed by the negligence of Southern Health at Slade House, an Assessment and Treatment Unit (ATU) in Oxford who had not correctly marked his epilepsy and, consequently, left him alone having a bath in a locked room where he had a seizure and subsequently drowned. Southern was fined £2 million in 2018 for "serious systematic" management failings after Connor’s death and the resultant campaign for justice which led to deeper investigations such as the extensive Mazars report for NHS England. This looked at all 10,306 deaths at the trust between April 2011 and March 2015 - 1,454 of these deaths were unexpected, and only 195 were treated as a serious enough to require investigation. Almost no cases involving special needs patients were investigated.

Forbes Masson, Charlie Ives, Alfie Friedman, Daniel Rainford and Janie Dee photos by Alex Brenner

There is obviously a huge amount of detail in this case and intense emotional weight yet Stephen Unwin’s play and his magnificent cast, take us through it in a spirited, informative and life-affirming way. It’s presented as the family were talking directly to the audience which is a bold and difficult task which has the affect of demolishing that fourth wall as well as uniting the players in a way that is familial; they’re so at ease with each other, improvising their way past the odd verbal fumble as families do, laughing and crying together in ways that eventually break the viewer’s heart.

Leading is Janie Dee as Professor Sara Ryan who thoroughly convinces with her drive and her hurt, a mother still devastated by the grief of her child’s untimely and unnecessary passing who galvanizes all in the pursuit of the truth. Sara as with my wife, and so many of the mothers of our group of autistic families, lets nothing go and having fought for ever inch of provision over her child’s life, carries on fighting for him after his death. As one of the parents of a severely autistic boy we know said, people and services come and go on your journey to look after your child but you have to keep driving the bus*.

Sara is a relentless bus driver and as we see the back projection of Oxford High Street on their journeys up to Headington, you know that the bus-obsessed Connor would just love this analogy. Connor here is played so well by Alfie Friedman and I say that as someone who recognises so many of the aspects of ASD. My son is more into tube trains and Daleks but their joy in the things they love is unbounded. David has a different profile, all autistic people are unique, as you and I, but he too was sectioned and taken into an NHS unit in London – one of the lowest points of my life. But we were lucky.

Janie Dee, Molly Osborne, Forbes Masson, Alfie Friedman, Charlie Ives, Daniel Rainford and Lee Braithwaite. Young Connor on the screen... Photo by Alex Brenner

Forbes Mason plays Rich, Sara’s partner and father of the group so many families with special needs struggle to stay united but Rich is a constant source of support and humour. Connor’s siblings are played by Lee Braithwaite (Owen), Molly Osborne (Rosie), Charlie Ives (Will) and Daniel Rainford (Tom) – four young actors who also pick up a remarkable number of other roles from the staff at the Unit, senior figures of Southern, or rather “Slovern” as Sara renames them, barristers, friends and lawyers. It’s a fast-moving narrative and mind-boggling in terms of the changes in character but behind these characters lie the gang’s main role as the family and, this adds the intimacy and the straight talking.

The events start with “Before” in the build up to Connors death, then After and the steps along the way to the truth finally being established. We see much of the young man’s character and this is such an affectionate and loved person, it is overwhelming when we see the actual Connor on screen. As a remembrance and recognition of this person it is poignant enough yet, as Sara says, it is not just for Connor, the fight must continue, parents must continue to push for the best provision and make governments and the powers that be respond.

The sections showing the incredible support for Connor and his family online are also very powerful: there is a community of carers, of the sympathetic and allies from all quarters who recognised the nature of the tragedy and the type of cover up we’ve seen many times in this country. Connors death is far from a one off and when a group of fellow victims was projected on screen you could sense the anger and dismay in the audience. 

Lee Braithwaite, Forbes Masson, Janie Dee, Molly Osborne and Daniel Rainford. Photo Alex Brenner

And, as the current government fails to make up the overall funding gap over the 14 years since they introduced Austerity, the risks to other patients are only growing.

The friends I mentioned above have a son is a one in a million with Childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD) and has resided in units like Slade in which there have been deaths and abuse. They are currently involved in an investigation of another unit, owned by private equity, and their story will soon be national news via Channel 4. Who decided that our children should be grounds for anyone making profit? It’s an extension of the neglect and callous attitudes that have seen the growth of modern poorhouses for those with special needs who, like Connor, and our son, struggle to find their way after they pass out of the educational system into adult care.

When someone like Connor turns eighteen. There’s all this jargon. People “transition to adult services”. Then they face “dropping off the cliff edge…” … and suddenly everything changes. 

I Thank You Theatre Rating: ***** One of the most important plays you will see all year. This is the story of one family tragedy which must help to improve provision for some of the most vulnerable families in Britain: this is a human right and also underpins the ability for those families to contribute to our national wellbeing. A magnificent cast who fully demonstrate the solidarity and singularity of purpose we now need!

In addition to Stephen Unwin’s firm handed grip on the narrative the design of Simon Higlett also deserves mention, enabling the stage to shift from live performance to projected images, allowing “reality” to intrude without knocking the play off-course. Props too for Ben Omerod’s lighting design, Holly Khan’s sound design, Matt Powell’s video design and Anna Wood’s SFX design. A formidable team all round.

What I found most moving though was the presentation of Connor… loved and loving, an innocent but a fully rounded human being who should have been protected, he should have been given a chance… It’s up to us now, we all need to drive the bus!

Laughing Boy runs at the Jermyn Street Theatre until 25 May before moving out on 4 to 8 June to Theatre Royal Bath – full details are on the JST website.


Connor Sparrowhawk