We take a look at what is being said about the world premiere of Danny Lee Wynter’s play, running in London until the 28th November.
The Guardian: “Broad Essex accents fill the stage in Danny Lee Wynter’s sprawling family drama. The busy script from the Black Superhero playwright is crammed with a fractious extended family treading heavily over old arguments, but the production sings when an old friend swans back into town. Set across the 80s and 90s in the shadow of the Aids crisis, this story’s beating heart travels around on tap shoes.”
The Standard: “A coming-of-age tale in a rich East London milieu, actor Danny Lee Wynter’s second play is warm but not cosy. It teems with vulgar wit and life, and Tim Sheader’s production features a host of fine performances.”
WhatsOnStage: “Wynter crams too much into his narrative, and the play never escapes its sense of being a therapeutic outpouring. But it is wonderfully vital in its portrayal of Ilford life – and sobering in its depiction of just how hard it was to be a Black gay man in this context. The sisters are wonderfully drawn and very convincing in their relationships to each other.”
The Arts Desk: “New drama about growing up in 1990s Essex is entertaining, but rather unfocused.”
All That Dazzles: “As Ilford Boy nears its end, these characters feel familiar, and this typical soap opera on working-class life has become something much subtler. Wynter’s writing may be overstuffed and imbalanced, but it adds something to the Donmar Warehouse’s varied repertoire that is as entertaining as it is important.”
The Reviews Hub: “With strong performances from Ria Zmitrowicz as Tilly, Craig Stein as Patrick, Lindsay Coulson as welcoming grandmother Eileen and newcomer Leo Whitfield Harris as Ted, Ilford Boy is a coming-of-age story for a young man who loves theatre but wants to please everyone. Finding his own voice in a house full of them becomes his only way forward.”
London Theatre.co.uk: “It’s reminiscent of Beth Steel’s Till the Stars Come Down in its hyper-naturalism: hair is blowdried and a roast is eaten in real time. There’s a little of Billy Elliot in Ted too, as he finds himself torn between the boxing gloves Ken wants him to wear and Mrs S’s musical tapes, which he adores. Wynter himself grew up in east London and presumably pours some of his own experiences into what ultimately unwinds as a by-turns acutely funny and desperately sad tapestry of a very particular time and place.”
The Stage: “Slight, but big-hearted coming-of-age story is irresistibly beguiling.”
British Theatre Guide: “It is implied that the Ilford boy of the title is Ted, but I would argue this is a play about Ilford boys, Ken, Pat and Ted. Tillie is the centre around whom these men orbit as mother, friend and partner. But regardless of the powerful matriarchal house, it is male relationships that Ilford Boy explores with intensity. Sheader pursues these character arcs with equal weighting, but Wynter’s writing could be interpreted to make Ken, Pat or Tillie the driving character.”
Theatre & Tonic: “Ilford Boy is a heartfelt celebration of family, identity and community, finding love and laughter alongside grief and prejudice. I sincerely hope it enjoys a further life in London and beyond. For all its imperfections, this is a warm, affecting and wonderfully familiar piece of theatre that makes the personal feel universal.”
The Telegraph: “Danny Lee Wynter’s script offers unending delight in the frank, witty and expletive-filled conversation between three east London sisters.”
Theatre Weekly: “The creative team make some inspired choices in bringing the script to the stage. Tim Sheader’s direction keeps the production fluid, working well with Peter McKintosh’s set design to create an intimate experience that feels homely yet claustrophobic when the chaos begins to unfold.”
To book tickets visit: https://www.donmarwarehouse.com/events/ilford-boy/?instance-type=standard#content-overview