You’ll no doubt know Mark Thomas as a stand-up comedian and political activist, veteran of the hard-hitting Mark Thomas Project on Channel 4, and someone who’s never afraid to flag-wave his left-leaning views. But exit the old Mark Thomas stage right, and enter, stage left, Mark Thomas the actor. And a pretty good one he is too. England and Son, a one-hour play, written by his friend, Ed Edwards, called at the Playhouse recently as part of a national tour, and it was a powerful and moving piece of theatre. The play tells a tragic story that both exhilarates and shocks, as Mark brings to life characters – some real, others perhaps less so – but all of them inspired by the writer and actor’s life experiences.
The story’s saddest and most upsetting aspect is how it all starts with a young, innocent boy, filled with hope, ambition and a desire to be loved. Tragically, he grows up neglected, abused and brutalised, and the horrors he experiences are later inflicted upon those around him.
The staging of England and Son is as stark and empty as the character’s existence, beginning with him about to meet his end, after spending the night in a skip at the back of Wetherspoons. It’s so easy these days when we are encouraged to give simplistic and divisive explanations for criminality not to see what has led someone to the depths of addiction and crime. Without getting preachy, Edwards addresses the issue of toxic masculinity, the inequalities in society, and explores the underlying violence and contradictions of our colonial and recent military past.
It’s also worth mentioning the first act, which didn’t exist until what was once an Edinburgh Fringe show transformed into a touring theatre piece. By necessity, it had to be divided into two halves (after all, those interval drinks and ice cream tubs won’t sell themselves, you know). Separate from the play itself, but acting as an appropriate scene setter for the second half, it allows Thomas to talk about the work he and Edwards currently do with recovering addicts in Manchester. They work with them on writing and performing and as a companion piece to the main event, Thomas performs some of their material. Both halves made for a superb evening, which managed to find elements of comedy to punctuate the unremitting tragedy of lives blighted by addiction.
