Pig Heart Boy

PIG HEART BOY IS THE PERFECT PLAY TO INTRODUCE THEATRE TO YOUNG AUDIENCES

Having read this story as a child, in the novel by Malorie Blackman, I was intrigued to see how they would bring the tale of Pig Heart Boy to the stage, at The Lowry. I knew that, being based on a children’s novel, that this would be a popular play with school groups and was delighted to see so many of them in the auditorium, with me, to see the tale unfold. I was excited to see this adaptation, by Winsome Pinnock, would add to the story.

The story of Pig Heart Boy centres around the life of Cameron Kelsey (Immanuel Yeboah; Casualty), who has a weakened heart, due to an infection he had as a young child. As a result of this, he cannot play the same games as his peers, or join with his favourite game, dare devil dive. Knowing his son is suffering, his father, Mike (Akil Young; A Foray in Innocence, Standing at the Sky’s Edge) contacts Dr Bryce (Tré Medley; Taming Who, Compositor E) who is experimenting with the idea of using a pig’s heart for a transplant, due to the lack of human organs available. Cameron’s mum, Cathy (Christine During; Result, The American Dream 2.0) is not happy with the idea, but Cameron wants to go through with it, if he can, so she agrees that they will meet Dr Bryce. In the meeting, it is made clear that they cannot tell a single soul about what they plan to do, due to the animal rights activists that disagree with Dr Bryce’s work. The family agreed. Before his surgery, Cameron has met the pig whose heart he is going to have, Trudy (Chia Phoenix; The Forty Elephants, Cake), and daydreams that he has spoken to her. Whilst in the lab, Cathy announces that she is pregnant, due to not wanting to be scanned, in case it harms the baby.

However, just before he is due to take time off school for his operation, Cameron confides in his best friend, Marilyn (Christina Ngoyi; Wishmas, United Queendom) that he will, in fact, have the heart of a pig the next time she sees him. Cameron goes along with his surgery, which goes well, and he is in recovery when he finds himself on the front page of the newspapers as someone has leaked the story about his surgery. The second act begins with Cameron going back to school and finally being able to participate in dare devil dive, but he finds that he still isn’t as good as some of his peers. His life hasn’t changed completely for the better, however. His crush, Julie (Christine During), has been told by her mum that she isn’t allowed near him anymore, in case he is carrying diseases, and he falls out with Marilyn, whose parents were the ones who leaked his story, for the money. The family have to appear on television, along with Dr Bryce, to tell their side of the story. Throughout his surgery and his recovery, Cameron began making a video for his new sibling, which he named Alex, to show them what his life is like and what their family was before they arrived. He gives up on it, for a while, as he concentrates on getting better at dare devil dive, at the detriment to his own health, as his new heart is being rejected by his body and he needs another transplant to live. Cameron refuses but is urged to by his grandmother (Chia Phoenix). Unfortunately, his grandmother dies before she can see him get better and Cameron picks up his camera to record for his new sibling, again, and has the second transplant, for his nan.

The set for this play was absolutely incredible. Across the back of the stage was a metal frame, with LED wires stemming out from a speaker in the middle, that represented the circulatory system of the body. Along with that, there were television screens that correlated to the action that was happening. A really cool example of this is when they were in the lab and the screens showed heart scans and blood pressure results of an unhealthy donor heart and a healthy one. I actually learned a lot through seeing this, as well as it being an amazing piece of theatre. Christina Ngoyi was wonderful as Cameron’s best friend, Marilyn. She had an infectious energy, when on stage, that just made me smile. In the ad lib moments, I was always listening for what she had to say because she was really funny. She made you feel sorry for Marilyn, who lost her friend, for a while, due to the actions of her parents. You could see the care that Marilyn had for Cameron in everything she did. Immanuel Yeboah as Cameron was simply fantastic. His ever-presence on the stage and his story-telling really sucked the audience in. My favourite moment was when he led the audience in a breathing exercise. The children in the audience dove head first into the opportunity to join in. He played the frustration of a teenage boy wonderfully, all whilst giving cheek and humour along the way. He really led and carried the narrative to perfection.

Akil Young as the concerned father, Mike, was brilliant. His accent was simply amazing and differed so greatly from his character of Rashid, the school boy that beats all others at dare devil dive. He was hilarious, in the classroom scene, and I loved his brilliant facial expressions as Mike, when he was going through the scanner. Christine During’s portrayals of mum, Cathy and school girl crush, Julie, were polar opposites and utterly fantastic. I honestly thought, at first, that they were being played by different people. Her raw energy and emotion as Cathy was stunning, as she dealt with a sick teenager and pregnancy at the same time. And her playfulness and bounciness as Julie was brilliant. It helped to show the audience just how young Cameron was, as he was going through what he was going through. Tré Medley as Dr Bryce was some comic relief in the darker moments of the play. I loved how he entered for the first time, as Bryce, through the audience. His american accent and swagger really brought a freshness to a character that, when I read it as a child, I remember as being stuffy and very ‘mad scientist’.

Chia Phoenix dazzled, both as the pink puffer-coat wearing pig, Trudy, and the hunched, harsh but loving, Nan. I loved the energy she brought as Trudy and the extravagance she gave to an animal that is often seen as dirty. Nan, on the other hand, was my absolute favourite character. She was sassy, fierce, loyal and flawlessly protective and made me laugh out loud multiple times. The way that she portrayed Nan’s death, too, was simply breathtaking. The whole cast was phenomenal, at that moment. It was heartbreaking but also dealt with so cleverly, especially with the play being aimed at children. Olivia Williams Freeman (Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds, Hare and the Tortoise) and Rhys Lanahan (A Mustard Seed, Wicked) tied the cast together perfectly, with their portrayals of school characters and funky pigs. Both of their energies, on stage, were brilliant.

One of my favourite moments of the whole play was the way that the underwater moments were created. The lighting and the movements of the actors, along with the sounds, just all tied together so perfectly that it felt like they were really underwater. I loved it.

This play is perfect for the introduction of theatre to children. It has fun moments and heartbreaking moments, with amazing lighting and set design to wow and amaze children into falling in love with the theatre. Pig Heart Boy is at The Lowry until Saturday 29th March. I urge you to go and see this, if you have kids, or if you don’t. You won’t be disappointed.

WE SCORE PIG HEART BOY...




Watch our "In Conversation with Immanuel Yeboah" video discussing the show