Kes – Octagon Theatre, Bolton
The most frequent responses to my reviewing this new adaptation of 'Kes' at the newly refurbished Octagon Theatre in Bolton a co-production with Theatre by the Lake, were ' Ooh, I read that at school' or 'I love the film' (often followed by an impersonation of Brian Glover as the PE teacher). Any of the audience attending last night expecting a faithful rendition of the novel, or wanting a staged version of the film, would have been disappointed. What they got instead was an intensely theatrical experience; a story of 'a boy, not a bird', that should be appreciated for its own considerable merits.
This northern story of Billy Casper (Jake Dunn) finding and training a kestrel is so embedded in the psyche, that the initial moments of this new adaptation by Robert Alan Evans are disorient...
