Goodnight Mister Tom

Synopsis

Sad and troubled, young William Beech is evacuated to the idyllic English countryside as Britain stands on the brink of World War II and is billeted with the curmudgeonly recluse Tom Oakley. Tom and Will build a remarkable and moving friendship, an unlikely bond which transforms them both, only to have their newfound happiness shattered when Will is summoned back to London by his mother. Heart-warming and inspiring, this story of two broken souls at opposite ends of the age scale celebrates the value of love and proves that friendship knows no barriers.

Our Review:

Karen Bussell - 22 February 2011

The perennial favourite Goodnight Mister Tom, enchantingly adapted for the stage by David Wood, proves a worthy opener for the Children’s Touring Partnership.

First published 30 years ago, Michelle Magorian’s children’s novel has sold over 1.2 million copies in the UK and numerous in translation, and been nominated for a Carnegie Medal while the TV adaptation starring John Thaw won a BAFTA. And Wood’s play has all the hallmarks of an award-winner too.

Set at the outset of the Second World War when children were evacuated en masse from London and deposited with strangers in the countryside, Goodnight Mister Tom is a tale of one such boy, for whom this is an escape from a manic and abusive mother, and the mutually beneficial relationship he builds with the taciturn Tom Oakley.

Despite the constrictions inherent with staging, under Angus Jackson’s direction Wood’s play superbly and simplistically contrasts the freedom of Dorset and its robust wholes...

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