by Adam Peck, based on the novel by Patrick Ness from an idea by Siobhan Dowd
Directed by Mark Shaun Walsh
Crescent Theatre, Birmingham (Ron Barber Studio) – Saturday 11th April 2026
The origins of “A Monster Calls” go back to author Siobhan Dowd who passed away from terminal cancer in 2007 at the tragically young age of 47, leaving behind the characters and basic premise, with the novel being completed by fellow author Patrick Ness in 2011. The play version came out of the Bristol Old Vic in 2018, with Adam Peck being named as “the writer in the room”.
This is the story of 13 year old Connor O’Malley, who is apparently suffering from persistent nightmares relating to the time when his mother became diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Anyone who has ever been to the Ron Barber Studio at the Crescent will be aware of its limited space, so being able to accommodate a cast of over 25 young performers was always going to be a challenge and I am pleased to say that the company rose to this challenge with some aplomb.
We open to a stage that is more or less in three parts. On stage right, there is some scaffolding surrounding what appears to be a gnarled old tree, and indeed this is what is was – a yew tree for the record. This was already in use by the 5 performers representing “the Monster” as the audience entered the auditorium.
Centre stage was a suspended window frame, this area largely being used to depict the classroom scenes, with chairs being brought in and out by the cast as necessary for these scenes.
To stage left was a kitchen table with some cupboards behind. Whilst the table was used often, the background scenery wasn’t really integral and could have been used to extend the stage a bit. That said, as set dressing it did enhance the scenes as necessary so that’s a minor point.
Strangely we were asked to leave the auditorium at the interval so they could re-set the stage yet upon our return it appeared to be exactly the same as when we left it so not sure what the reason behind that was.
There was a lot of good movement around the stage. As stated before we had quite a large cast, so they needed to be fully aware of where they were at all times and this was duly achieved, so a shout out to choreographers Bella Bailey and Vinnie Stoiber who were also members of the cast thus demonstrating a range of talents.
As I have come to expect from this company, we had a strong cast who all performed their roles with aplomb. Just one thing to point out is that on a few occasions we did lose the lines when actors were speaking upstage and some of the team need to raise the volume of their voices when speaking with their backs to the audience.
A play of this nature needs a strong central performance which is what we got from Elliot Perrett in the role of Connor, a character which is pretty much in every scene. Elliott gave us a strong and confident performance which is commendable from someone of such a young age, and he
had the audience with him throughout as we went through his journey at one of the most traumatic experiences a young person can have to go through.
In an interesting piece of gender-blind casting, we had Mark Smith-Alonso playing the role of Connor’s mum, yet this was such a good performance that you never questioned this. Right from the start, Mark gave us a strong and sympathetic character clearly showing family devotion despite the physical condition.
The titular monster of the piece, reflecting the inner turmoil in Connor’s head, was superbly enacted by a group of 5 actors – Jacob Lenton, Bella Bailey, Lewis Grego, Clara Smith and Hester Hawley – who worked together marvellously and helped to move the story along.
The antagonists of the play were the three school bullies – Rudy Hudson as Harry, Evie McCabe as Sully and Kit Webster as Anton – the first two of which were suitably nasty, the latter seemingly more reluctant to get involved here. All three were very good, but I have to make mention here of Evie’s incredible range of facial expressions which could have moved things along without any dialogue – this is something that’s not always easy to achieve on stage, even in a tight space like this one, so well done for playing to your assets there.
Phoebe Preston gave us a very sympathetic portrayal as Connor’s grandma, a role that could have descended into caricature but happily didn’t as someone wanting the best for her family but having to juggle priorities.
Hannah Rust worked well with Elliot as Connor’s friend Lily whilst Vinnie Stoiber and Heidi Wells gave us good portrayals of the two schoolteachers – both gave that balance between no nonsense authority and having that duty of care to those in their charge.
The whole cast though was excellent (sorry I can’t mention everyone) and I didn’t hear a single prompt all night which is always a good sign.
Overall, this was a superb performance of a difficult, challenging and thought provoking piece fully showcasing the excellent young talent that this company has.
Reviewed by – David G
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