EdFringe Review: Just William

When the doors open to the compact confines of a Space on the Mile studio, you might find yourself asking just how Talking Shadows Theatre plans to stage their Just William tale. While the venue is tight and the character list typically large, you shouldn’t worry; the company has clearly concealed a portal to a dimension full of child actors somewhere in the wings.

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The story is an affectionate pastiche of Richmal Crompton’s beloved adventures. Sent to bed without pudding, William Brown receives a joking instruction from his family: “raise your own money.” He responds by planning to mount a play in his back garden. Because this is William, the situation quickly spirals out of control.

What begins as a stripped-back production, led by one energetic, monologue-declaiming child in the title role, rapidly escalates as a small army swings into action. Except for William’s father, John, virtually every character leaps into the action. Crucially, no doubling up occurs. The production supplies an actor of the exact requisite age, size, and sex for every role, and pulling this off in such a restricted area never stops feeling like a magic trick. Directorially, the adaptation achieves a genuine sense of escalating calamity, thanks to plenty of pace and an energised cast. Half the town either wants a part or gets tricked into attending, and the staging captures this snowballing disaster perfectly.

Staging a Large-Ensemble Adaptation

With (I estimate) at least thirteen performers under the age of thirteen, audiences would be forgiven for expecting some standard school-play fare, but the confident handling of this large ensemble yields a slick, uplifting hour of theatre. The pacing is solid, making an almost sixty-minute run time vanish in a flash. Barely ever leaving the stage, William attacks the role with total gusto. While his personality is massive, his vocal projection is still developing; without microphones, he is forced to shout almost all of his dialogue to reach the back rows.

As a result, we get a distinctly bullish, extroverted William. He comes across as a highly likeable life enthusiast, yet we lose a little of the gentle, well-meaning spirit that often drives him into his famous messes. Still, it’s hard not to hear the echo of Denis King’s nostalgic theme: ‘He’s always in trouble, he’s always to blame / But we love him just the same.’ A touch of amplification would easily solve the technical side of this.

Despite this minor hurdle, the show is a joyous romp, and Crompton’s timeless humour shines through. The comedy finds its liveliest edge when the characters interact naturally, supported by strong comic side-quests. William sabotages his lovesick older brother’s date, successfully offering the young woman a superior part playing a squaw to his chief, while his older sister fends off the unwanted affections of a schoolteacher prone to PG-rated malapropisms.

William’s long-suffering mother deploys a lethal mix of dry wit and impeccably timed stares, while Violet Elizabeth Bott gets the spoiled, lisping character exactly right. It’s not always the case that more is more in the theatre, but in this case Talking Shadows definitely benefits from their hidden legion of performers. 

Overall, this production richly deserves a bigger room and a couple of microphones. For now, salutations on making a magic box from a small room on The Mile! This is a lovely, wholesome piece of comedic family theatre on a scale which will boggle your mind!

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