(Grant Jacobs is Bobby Jones)Delightful story, well-directed and beautifully performed. (Review by Caroline Smart)
Having missed the one-man show, Paper Boy!, at the Musho! Festival earlier this year, I was pleased to be able to catch it this evening at the start of its short run at Seabrooke’s Theatre at Durban High School (DHS).
The theatre has undergone a successful revamp and while the capacity has now dropped from 119 seats to 103, it means that the sightlines are much improved. The seat raking is higher and there is more space between the rows. This now places this intimate venue as an attractive and workable theatre space for both performers and audiences.
Well-directed by Liam Magner, Paper Boy! is written by the disarming actor Grant Jacobs who tells the tale of Bobby Jones, a 22 year-old who hasn’t quite mastered the art of taking control of his life. Dreaming of being James Bond, or a famous actor at the very least, he delivers newspapers for a living.
With the use of a simple bar stool – which also becomes an effective wheelchair – he takes us on his daily rounds down Alice Road. At full pelt, he greets the residents while flinging their newspapers, not always successfully, into the relevant properties. One unsuccessful aim sees a newspaper hurtling through an open window of Mr Moodley’s home and knocking the urn of ashes of his late wife onto the floor. Little does Bobby know how important those ashes are to him.
Living in the same road is Tracy Somers, a pretty young lady he loves from afar. One of these days, he’ll say hello.
While planning a break-in to tidy up the chaos that he has caused in the Moodley house, he introduces us to some delightful characters. These include the garrulous Auntie Stella, draped in her red stole with her rose-adorned bobbing hat as well as a wannabee gangster and his echoing falsetto sidekick. Then there’s Tracy Somers’ butch boyfriend who flaunts his muscular body in front of Bobby. However, all pale into insignificance with the news of the impending visit of his mother, the celebrity Suzy Samuels.
There are some beautiful sequences presented with Grant’s endearing sincerity, such as the scene with his crippled father and when talking to his mother’s photograph. While the accent is on wry humour, we also catch a glimpse of his full dramatic capacity. From the cheery start to its wistful closing, Grant’s writing shows good musical rhythm and, except for a few instances when he became too internalised, his projection is good.
As it was designed for Musho!, PaperBoy is just under an hour long. However, I see great potential here and would like to see Grant develop it further
Paper Boy! runs at Seabrooke’s Theatre DHS in St Thomas Road until March 6 at 19h30. Tickets R50 booked on 031 277 1500 or email seabrooke’s@durbanhighschool.co.za – Caroline Smart
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