Our Boys

This play nicely captures squaddie banter and gives a taste of army life, past and present. It's funny but it also points a finger at how the 'top brass' have let the Tommies down since, well, forever. I suspect the original plan was to shift the initial mood of light-hearted micky-taking, mixed with mutual affection,in the early scenes to a suddenly more sinister feel, driven by the main character, played by Laurence Fox. The 'Battersea Boner' should have been a jack-the-lad geezer with a very short fuse when crossed, with the reason for that being revealed at the very end of the play. However, Laurence Fox couldn't quite deliver, with a big part of the problem being his accent, which was sometimes officer-posh, sometimes Bristolian, and occasionally mild estuary (he kept reminding me of Rick from The Young Ones)! The other actors all knew what they had to do and they achieved their objective admirably. MIDs to them, Jankers for Pte Fox.

Found this very disappointing, manipulative and already dated. More on my blog http://www.frontrowdress.com/2012/10/our-boys-duchess-theatre-wednesday-10.html

Excellent play - well acted with a rich mixture of humour and pathos. One of the best plays I've seen