Since the days of antiquity, older generations have looked back at the past with rose-tinted glasses and blamed ‘antisocial behaviour’ on the youth of the day. Nowadays we have a better understanding about why certain students aren’t adept at learning, now that we can identify traits such as dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). At the other end of the age spectrum, lapses in memory and wanting to have one’s own way can be construed as being ‘troublesome’ too – that is when anybody can remember to check in on the elderly…

Written and directed by Rachael Savage, Vamos Theatre’s Boy On The Roof takes these themes as a framework to tell a story about a mother, her son and an elderly widower who all live on Cooper Street. Between their respective addresses, there are (presumably) students who indulge in house parties and a young couple who have a young baby who is often woken up by the neighbours or people on the street. Certainly at the beginning of the play, there is little evidence of a sense of community there…

One technique that separates this show from other productions that tackle similar themes is the use of masks. Masks have been in theatre since ancient Greece and Japan, but their use was symbolic, for specific scenes and reasons. For Boy On The Roof, all the characters wear them. It’s only at the end of the show when everyone unmasks that you realise how effective they are, with the people wearing them looking nothing how one imagines.

Aron De Casmaker plays Albert the pensioner, while Angela Laverick portrays Rosie Baxter, and Emilie Largier, her son Liam. Rosie works night shifts in an A&E department, while Liam is in Year 10 at school. While he does well in sports and football, Liam finds academically he doesn’t do well at school and plays truant some of the time. But in this age of digital connectivity, Liam’s school alerts Rosie of his absenteeism by phone and when he should be bringing home school reports…

Down the street, Albert misses his wife terribly and is prone to misplacing items such as his spectacles and his phone. He is occasionally visited by his daughter, but her sojourns are all too brief – spending her time moving or going through his things, rather than spending quality time with him. But a chance encounter with Liam changes both of their respective worlds forever, making an indelible impression on each other…

As a ‘mime’-oriented show, Boy On The Roof eschews dialogue spoken by the central characters. Instead, we glean much of what’s going on by their actions, by the sound design (music the respective characters listen to, sound of TV programmes/adverts), plus various visual elements (projected text messages on smartphones, projections of scenes outside) and so on.

For all of the aural and visual innovative techniques in the show, its lasting legacy is its sensitivity to the subject of loneliness and the ‘crosses’ that each generation has to bear with regards to being misunderstood and overlooked.

In many ways Boy On The Roof is a play for people who don’t normally go the theatre and used to the conventions of watching a play. By the same token, Vamos’s show is every bit as mature example of storytelling as more well-known shows and a labour of love for all concerned.

© Michael Davis 2025

Vamos Theatre’s Boy On The Roof was performed at the Midlands Arts Centre on 28th February. It continues its UK tour at the following venues and dates:

Thursday 6th March 2025 – 19:30
Mercury Theatre
Balkerne Gate, Colchester, CO1 1PT
Book Tickets: 01206 573948

Friday 7th March 2025 – 19:30
New Wolsey Theatre
New Wolsey Theatre, Civic Dr, Ipswich, IP1 2AS
Book Tickets: 01473 295900

Saturday 8th March 2025 – 14:30
New Wolsey Theatre
New Wolsey Theatre, Civic Dr, Ipswich, IP1 2AS
Book Tickets: 01473 295900

Sunday 9th March 2025 – 19:30
The Swan Theatre
The Moors, Worcester, WR1 3ED
Book Tickets: 01905 611 427