A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson is a brilliant piece of physical storytelling, at times funny, thought-provoking, and touching. It follows two boys, Ace (Natasha Roland) and Grasshopper (Xhloe Rice), who are scouts at the time of the Vietnam War. Through child-like inventions we see the world through their eyes, with the lines between playing soldiers at home and being soldiers at war are blurred.
The strength of this show comes through its roots in physical theatre and clowning. Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland, performers and co-creators, use this to evoke the child-like world of their characters. The extent of the ‘set’ is one large, black rubber tyre, but through clowning the two are able to produce so much from this one item: a piece of cover under enemy fire, the rope swing by the lake, Ace’s bedroom window, the oncoming torrent of a flooding river. Rice and
Roland has a fantastic energy and presence on stage which makes this physical work feel engaging and seamless and it was a pleasure to see this kind of physical storytelling done to such a high level which is a sad rarity on British stages. This invention is perfect for the show precisely because it reads as the overpowered imagination of two kids; it helps us buy into Ace and Hopper’s world which is all low-stakes fun, just playing at soldiers. It makes the blurring of lines into the actual Vietnam war much more powerful towards the end of the play.
The work of these two performers is excellently supported by Lighting Designer and Technical Manager, Angelo Sagnelli. The lighting choices are dynamic, responding to the movements of the performers, again reinforcing this impression of seeing the world through Ace and Hopper’s imagination. The sound design is similarly excellent and together they help create some of the show’s best sequences. For example, when Ace sneaks out at night to try and catch a glimpse of LBJ – part president, part god to the boys – as he speeds past Ace’s small town in a train. As the light and sound rushes over the audience, we feel the unspoken sense of abandonment and neglect that pervades Ace and Grasshopper’s world, caught in a desperate devotion to an establishment that cares nothing for them.
The only difficulty the show runs into can be the problem of making each new invention the boys have, and especially the start of each new story/monologue/memory, feel distinct. Moving between their time as scouts, individual memories, events in Vietnam, and a fairytale story of a boy trying to become a man, the story can at times become a little muddled, and the theatrical language a little repetitive. In part this feels deliberate. It gives us a sense of these boys being stuck, never really standing a chance of escaping their fate and trying to make the best of it. At other points, however, it can see the energy drag just a little, and the production never leans far enough into the motif of repetition to fully cement it.
This is, however, a minor point, not least because the show only runs at an hour and also because its ending is so simple and stark. In a few short moments, Rice and Roland collapse the child-like filter through which the play is told, and which has kept the audience comfortable. The result is a brilliant and innovative piece of physical theatre that pulls its audience into the heart of Vietnam-era U.S.A.
A Letter To Lyndon B Johnson is running alongside Rice and Roland’s other show What If They Ate The Baby? At Soho Theatre until the 29th March – https://sohotheatre.com/events/what-if-they-ate-the-baby-a-letter-to-lyndon-b-johnson-or-god-whoever-reads-this-first/
Reviewer: Ralph Jeffreys
Reviewed: 20th March 2025
North West End UK Rating:
Rating: 4 out of 5.
