Poignant Play about a Troubled Musician
“I’ve led them out of the dark, just as I’ll lead you.”
Father Miller
It is an eerie start to this original, well written and acted play about a haunting. In 1983 Russell (Stuart Thompson) turns up unexpectantly at his mother (Wendy Nottingham)’s house in the north-east of England. He has been studying classical singing at a conservatoire in London. He is troubled and his mother is on edge and snarky with her stream of criticism. We are looking at Tomàs Palmer’s design of the living room through gauze walls on all four sides.
This play was written by Nancy Netherwood in the Inspire programme for new writing at Hampstead, mentored then by Roy Williams and in future by Simon Stephens. She had seen Stuart Thompson as Moritz in Spring Awakening at the Almeida in 2021/2 and knew he would be perfect as Russell.
Walking round the square set is a mysterious woman (Renée Lamb) singing softly, haunting folk songs. The gauze curtain drops away and we can see more clearly. After Russell gets a grilling from Maud his mother, she reveals that she has contacted a priest known for his “psycho-divinity” or exorcism. Russell has been troubled all his life with a mysterious illness, maybe possession, deeply affecting his psyche. Only Russell seems to hear “The Voice”, the music is deep in his head.
The priest Father Miller (Ben Allen) arrives to interview Russell about what is troubling him and agrees to return. Russell has a terribly disturbed night after this visit and Stuart Thompson excels at conveying Russell’s emotional struggles. Before we had psycho-therapy and analysis, people looked to the church to heal those who were different. We now acknowledge that often divergent psychological behaviour can co-exist with special talent and creativity. Russell’s talent is for singing and music.
We have glimpses back to London where Russell has met a fellow student Steph (Renée Lamb) and they dance wildly with smoke effects and Steph is making advances which Russell cannot accept. This is probably to do with his sexuality.
The priest describes Russell’s affliction as “damage to his soul” and conveys that he, himself is not without issues that trouble him. The priest returns to set up the space where he will attempt to heal Russell’s soul. Lit candles are meticulously placed around a wooden cross. The Voice blows out the candles. This is the end of Act One.
In Act Two The Voice leads the cast back in with pretty folk music. Maud describes how Russell became strange when he was in the choir that she had sent him to for years. At 9, he was disruptive and his body was covered with rashes that he had to scratch, but he won a music scholarship to a school.
We return to Steph at college where she is asking Russell to come out with her and as she embraces him, he looks terrified. Back to Maud’s description of his youth and how she sold the piano. It is winter and in his mother’s house, they are snowed in. The priest calls upon Russell to renounce the spirit and her evil works but the priest is attacked, getting strangled.
You cannot fail to be impressed by the acting here. All four characters set up a tense and compelling atmosphere, keeping you fixed and hoping for a happy resolution for Russell whom we have learnt to care about. Júlia Levai’s direction, always difficult with the audience on three sides, has clarity. Nancy Netherwood refuses easy conclusions to this idiosyncratic play. For its originality and acting, Theatrevibe, the site that doesn’t give stars awards Radiant Boy five stars.
Editor of TheatreVibe.co.uk
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Production Notes
Radiant Boy – A Haunting
Written by Nancy Netherwood
Directed by Júlia Levai
Cast
Starring:
Stuart Thompson
Ben Allen
Renée Lamb
Wendy Nottingham
Creatives
Director: Júlia Levai
Designer: Tomás PALMER
Lighting Designer: Lucía Sánchez Roldán
Sound Director: Patch Middleton, Elinor Peregrin
Fight and Intimacy Director: Haruka Kuroda
Musical Director: Elinor Peregrin
Information
Running Time: One hour 50 minutes with an interval
Booking to 14th June 2025
Theatre:
Southwark Playhouse THE LITTLE
Newington Causeway
London SE1 6BD
Rail/Tube: Elephant and Castle
Website: southwarkplayhouse.co.uk
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge
at the Southwark Playhouse
on 29th May 2025