Humble Boy By Charlotte Jones

Felix Humble, bumbling Cambridge astrophysicist and cricket enthusiast, returns to the family home following the sudden death of his father. Flora, his difficult and demanding mother is determined to make a fresh start with George, a brash family friend. Secrets come tumbling out as Felix tries to come to terms with the past and what is yet to come.

Threads such as Hamlet, horticulture, black holes and beekeeping are woven into this warm and touching comedy which was first performed at the National Theatre in 2001 - winning the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best New Play and the People's Choice Best New Play Award.

Charlotte Jones is hailed by many as the natural successor to both Stoppard and Ayckbourn for her intelligent and richly comic scripts. Oxford Theatre Guild has a long history of performing to both audience and critical acclaim at the Playhouse.

'This is a marvellous play: harsh and forgiving: sad, very sad; funny, very, very funny...a feast.' Sunday Times

Saturday 26 March 2011

Fascinating Article

I was flicking through the BBC website at about 1am and found a wonderful article about emotional power of gardening.  Given the effect of the garden in the characters of Humble Boy - I thought it worth sharing!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12817415

Thursday 24 March 2011

In an English Country Garden

I thought you might like to see one of the initial sketches Vince, our wonderful designer, did for the show.

Things have moved on a little since then, but it will give you a flavour of what to expect of our little piece of the Cotswolds transported to the Playhouse stage.



The Final Countdown

We only have 4 rehearsals left before Humble Boy enters the theatre...!

Excellent progress has been made in all areas of the production and I have every confidence that come Sunday 3 April, we will be ready to hit the ground running.

Some Rehearsal Photos

A tender moment between Rosie and Felix

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Bee on the look out...

Every day from now on until the show opens, Dan, our Internet Wizard, will be tweeting about bees!

Subscribe to our Twitter feed and see what bee happening!

Wednesday 23 February 2011

Half Way!

6 weeks of rehearsals down, 6 weeks to go!

We are having a blast in the rehearsal rooms - Charlotte Jones has written an amazingly funny play and the cast are revelling in the opportunities it is giving them to create vivid characters and hilarious moments.  That is not to say that the play is without a darker side - and these sections are by turns shocking, moving and very touching.  It really is an embarrassment of riches and one that we are enjoying working on.

Friday 11 February 2011

Blocking Complete!

So, five weeks into our process and we have worked our way through the entire play. My rehearsal book is spilling over with pencil scribbles and eraser marks, all in the quest to know what each character is doing at each time.

Now, we move up to four rehearsals a week and our assembly stage of rehearsals. This is where we piece together the play, brick by brick. And while the cast do that, I need to work on writing down all the blocking notes so I can hand them out to our understudies so they can have some idea of what we've been doing without them for the last month!

Friday 28 January 2011

Quantum Leap - Humble Boy and Science

One of the intriguing things about Humble Boy as a play is the way Charlotte Jones has incorporated a lot of science into the text.  Our central character, Felix Humble, is a researcher into the complex field of astrophysics.

Monday 24 January 2011

Meet the Cast

Random Jottings from the Director – First rehearsals...

After many months of planning, rehearsals for Humble Boy have now started and it is a joy to be working with the cast and crew to put this great play on the stage of the Oxford Playhouse.

But why this particular play?

I remember reading it many years ago and loving it for the clever blend of humour and emotional honesty. Charlotte Jones – as any good Oxford-educated author should – manages to combine a whole range of topics with some deftly drawn characters into a script that can make you laugh and cry with some brilliant lines.

Welcome

Welcome to the new blog for Oxford Theatre Guild's Spring Production - Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones - to be staged at the Oxford Playhouse from 5 to 9 April 2011.

Over the coming weeks, we will be giving you a glimpse into how the show is coming together - with contributions from all the leading players - both cast and crew.

Why not also subscribe to our YouTube channel and Twitter? That way you will always be in touch with what is going on in the world of Humble Boy.