The Stage

Me and Me Dad

Published Monday 1 February 2010 at 11:15 by Kevin Berry

Nick Lane’s new play continues the story of Dave, the central character in his fondly remembered 2007 comedy My Favourite Summer.

Eamonn Fleming, Una McNulty and Matthew Booth in Me and Me Dad at Hull Truck Theatre Photo: Peter Byrne

Matthew Booth, very much the young everyman of the Hull Truck theatre company, is again playing Dave and he delivers the best performance that this reviewer has seen from him. He narrates with a matey, self-mocking appeal. His reactions are beautifully judged and they make some predictable situations far funnier.

Dave is struggling with the recent death of his mother. It is a loss he has no faced up to and when the full realisation of that loss comes, Booth brings out touching emotion.

Dave is back at the family home in Doncaster to look after his dad. His mum was a truly splendid cook, making each meal a memorable occasion, but dad is hopeless in the kitchen. Cooking was mum’s release, although why that was needs more exploration.

Una McNulty is Dave’s mum, in flashback and as an unseen presence. This she does with a mix of grace and wifely resignation. Having her also playing Dave’s girlfriend adds a moment of exquisite unease, which is hardly pursued, but having McNulty play Dave’s embarrassing aunt is asking rather too much. Not that she is not capable, she is. But two parts should be enough.

The relationship between Dave and his dad, a fine study from Eamonn Fleming, is this play’s emotional and comic strength. It shifts, gradually yet with pleasant surprise.