The Boy Friend

The Boy Friend, Sandy Wilson’s classic pastiche of relationships in the roaring twenties, is an oft-performed classic in the world of amateur theatre. Hazlenut Productions, in their second Fringe performance, present a condensed version of the three-act spectacular.

The primary challenge that The Boy Friend, as a spoof, presents to a director is where to draw the line between parody and naturalism. This production, erring on the side of the former, tends to produce characterisations that feel rather wooden, shallow and amateur.

But this evaluation is not without exception. Within the performance shine some great potential talent: both of the leads, played by Sarah Anson and Jonathan Swinard, are executed brilliantly and a number of the supporting roles are lovingly portrayed, but the company, as an entity, is unfortunately let down by its numerous weaker members, whose lack of enthusiasm drains much of the energy of the performance.

With regards to technical aspects, the performance is certainly one of great variety: some excellent choral and individual singing is matched by a number of weaker singers; the costuming varies from its initial delightful accuracy to, in the final act, slight tackiness; and the execution of the fairly unimaginative choreography ranges from effortless to shockingly poor.

The positives listed above, along with a skilled live band and the mastery of Sandy Wilson’s score, make this production enjoyable for those musical-lovers who are willing to forgive the usual trappings of amateur student productions, but those after a show of professional standard should look elsewhere.