Bringing Up Baby Alone
“Jack, your lack of enthusiasm is of no benefit to Sarah’s pelvic floor!”
Lizzy, Pregnancy Coach
It is one of those things the preparation for childbirth books tell you not to do. Don’t attempt to bring home a new baby to a house in mid-renovation. So the setting for Duncan Abel’s adaptation of Tim Sullivan’s film Jack and Sarah is a Victorian town house full of builders and building materials, ably designed by Terry Parsons. It is here that we first meet Sarah (Lucy Doyle) and Jack (George Banks) who are expecting their first baby.
The practice session for labour from the pregnancy coach Lizzy (Sarah Hoyle) has Jack and Sarah (Lucy Doyle) contorting to “the rocking cat” as they prepare, Jack less enthusiastically than Sarah! They discover under the covers on the sofa that a homeless man has been sleeping. He is a very educated and witty homeless man. William played by a very amusing Rufus Hound is an alcoholic who has been sleeping in a nearby skip. It turns out he was an antiquarian book seller and he becomes a regular visitor to Jack’s home.
We are devastated to learn that Jack comes back from the maternity hospital with just the baby, Sarah has died giving birth. He decides to name the baby after her mother. Initially Jack leaves care of the baby to his father Michael (Neil Roberts) and his mother in law Phil (Sarah Hoyle) but he is persuaded to join in. Within a short time, baby Sarah is being wheeled around in a makeshift pram which is a builders’ wheelbarrow. During this time pizzas are delivered by an American, Amy (Anya de Villiers) who holds the baby and sings to her.
Jack needs to go back to work. The arrival of his super-efficient boss Anna (Lucy Doyle), who is insistent that he return as soon as possible, convinces us that she has an agenda. No paternity leave is offered there despite the play being set in the modern day. Jack finds it difficult to envisage anyone else looking after the baby when his wife had so many ideas and plans for her. A side story is of the builder Nat (Lee White) who is childless and thinking about adoption.
There are two romantic threads to this play, one rather anticipated between the nanny and Jack but the other rather quirky and unexpected, but really pleasurable. As a film Jack and Sarah was the third highest grossing British film of 1995 and starred a knight of the realm, two dames and the Lady Nunn. It is both about coping with grief and unexpected ways of finding comfort.
The pizza deliverer Amy is also a singer in a restaurant and we have some songs written by Anya de Villiers and Duncan Abel. There are two characters angling for romance with Amy and Jack and you will have to see the play to find out who they are in remarkably skillful doubling. I liked this gentle play; my only regret is not having seen more of Rufus Hound’s delightful humour in a part not large enough for his talent. Who else can deliver a line like, “Where might one find a cafetière?” and get a large, spontaneous laugh? Perhaps The Mill at Sonning can find a play with a bigger role for him?
Song List
Sleep Now
(Amy’s Improvised Song)
You Don’t Hear My Song
Tennessee to Camden Lock
Sarah’s Song
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Production Notes
Jack and Sarah
Adapted by Duncan Abel
From the film by Tim Sullivan
Directed by Abigail Pickard Price
Cast
Starring:
Anya de Villiers
George Banks
Lee White
Lucy Doyle
Neil Roberts
Rufus Hound
Sarah Moyle
Creatives
Director: Abigail Pickard Price
Set Designer: Terry Parsons
Costume Designer: Natalie Titchener
Lighting Designer: Mark Dymock
Movement Director: Amy Lawrence
Sound Director: Ella Wahlström
Information
Running Time: Two hours 30 minutes
including the interval
Booking to 14th June 2026
Theatre:
The Mill at Sonning Theatre
Sonning Eye
Reading
RG4 6TY
Website: millatsonning.com
Box Office: (0118) 969 8000
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge
at the Mill at Sonning
on 1st May 2026