You will
have noticed I have a penchant for real life stories. I am not going to go over
it again and again. But what I possibly love the best about this kind of true
story is when art and real life come together and touch. I don’t know, we don’t
have enough art in our real life I reckon, even though real life is more
artistic than one might think. I was attracted to Dear Lupin principally because
it’s the story of father-son duo Roger and Charles Mortimer as brought to life
by real life father and son duo James and Jack Fox. I had very little knowledge
of the book and the story it told but honestly just wanted to see how and if
the real father son relationship bled into the performance, and how. Well it
does. And it’s adorable.
But before
we get to that bit let us back track for two minutes and take a look at the
story – the real life story – that started all of this. Because be it a film or
be it a play, it all begins with a good yarn…
Roger
Mortimer is a racing journalist. He has a wife and three children and they live
a reasonably comfortable if slightly eccentric life in the British countryside.
Most life events chug along as normal and expected, but there is one notable
exception. Charles, Rogers oldest and
most wayward offspring. Over the years Roger desperately tries to keep
Charles (a.k.a. Lupin) from going off the rails but never judges or condemns.
He does this through a collection of around 150 letters written throughout the
years that Charles makes into a book after the death of his father. It is this
book that we can now watch as brought to life by James and Jack Fox at the Apollo
theatre today.
I won’t go
into the details of the story. Yes the story is quite a yarn but not in a
Mission Impossible, fast trains and explosions kind of way. Nor is it even like
Motherf**ker in the hat, as reviewed last week with the raw emotion on constant
and unabashed flow. It is a very, very British tale of emotion of equal
quantity hidden under mannerisms and understatements. And yet Roger clearly has
a way with the written word and Charles is completely candid in telling the ins
and outs of his rather tumultuous life so it only takes a very small amount of
reading between the lines to see the enormous amounts of affection flowing
between the father and son. It’s definitely a touching affair throughout. But
don’t worry – you will be laughing out loud a lot more often than wiping away
any tears…
The performance
itself is quite a brave one on many levels. In the first place, this is a
matter of storytelling as much as it is acting – there are no re-eanctments of
scenes from the letters, but the letters are read (quoted rather) explained and
the bare bones of it sketched out by the two man cast who support the story
with vigour, talent and ease throughout. James Fox embodies the middle aged
English gent of a certain era to perfection so it is a joy to see his
quicksilver acting talent shining through in the little moments on stage. Jack
Fox , our main narrator – as in the book – is both an engaging storyteller and
clearly set to do great things in the world of acting but although the
technical prowess and bravery is only one side of the performance that touched
me.
It is no
great spoiler to point out that the play follows Roger Mortimer all the way
through his life to the point his health fails and he passes away. Judging by
the alternating hugs and hand-shakes between father and son while they were
taking their bows it is as emotional a moment as I imagine it to be – especially
for Jack I would imagine. He must, after all, watch his own father die very
convincingly on stage in front of an audience for the entire run. THAT is what
I call brave.
Dear Lupin
is a warm and wonderful story for parents and offspring of all ages, for the
good and the wayward alike. Ok so it doesn’t have bells or whistles. It has, in
its stead, a heaving mass of talent, emotion and love – and don’t forget a simply
cracking yarn… You want to catch this one before it ends. No really, you do.
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