Writer Ross Willis has a terrific feel for words, their sounds, their percussive qualities. In Wonder Boy, he fixes our focus on the power of language by presenting as the hero of his story 12-year-old Sonny (Raphel Famotibe), who stammers so much that he avoids talking. Instead, he draws, for his own eyes only, cartoon stories featuring Captain Chatter (Ramesh Meyyappan), whose amazing power is… speech. Following a classic triumph over adversity story arc (similar to that used in the film The King’s Speech), Sonny discovers he must face the challenge of delivering lines in public when the headteacher insists he perform in his school’s production of Hamlet.
The staging shifts seamlessly between cartoon fantasy, reality and Sonny’s memories of his mother, thanks in part to Tom Newell’s videos and captions, incorporating the entire text into projections.
The actors, under director Sally Cookson, deliver Willis’s text with energising relish. Raphel Famotibe is stupendous as Sonny, perfectly conveying the contrast between the boy’s sullen, withdrawn exterior and his vibrant inner life, as well as the frustration of not being able to say the words he thinks. It’s hard to believe this is his professional stage debut. As Sonny’s naughty schoolfriend Roshi, Juliet Agnes is a force of nature, winning a well-deserved round of applause for her delivery of the snappy, slangy, teen-view synopsis of Hamlet. Amanda Lawrence’s caustic but inspirational teacher, with a secret of her own, is lively and convincing, while Jenny Fitzpatrick is wicked as a tick-box-obsessed headteacher and touching as Mum.
If the strength of Willis’s writing is the dialogue, the weakness lies in its construction. The development of the plot is schematic, rather than dramatic – structured as a sequence of scenes to tackle issues. Ultimately, it feels less like a main-house play and more like a beautifully produced example of effective theatre-in-education – inspiring, irrespective of age.
• Wonder Boy is at Bristol Old Vic until 26 March
