Shut away in a cramped and cluttered laboratory, a father and son are carrying out their daily routine. The young boy, wearing a faded Superman top, weighs himself, measures himself, skips like a boxer on heat and finally slams up against the wall, shouting out seemingly nonsensical phrases. It is only when the boy lifts up his top that part of the puzzle falls into place – two big arrows point to his shoulder blades, marking where this boy’s wings will be located – and we realise this lad, with the help of his father, is learning to fly.

What follows is a deeply metaphorical piece, devised by Camden People’s Theatre, about the potentially destructive nature of a father’s love for his son. This is a boy who practises swimming on a table, imagines eating delicacies when all he has a coconut, and pretends to fly while his feet stay firmly on the ground. This is a boy who plays at living, but whose unbreakable bond with his father – the son is tied to a rope every time he leaves the house – is preventing him from growing up, spreading his wings and leaving the nest for good.

Sebastien Lawson is exceptionally tender as young son Icarus and manages to portray this son’s unbreakable faith in his father, as well as his mounting frustration and despair, as the laboratory walls begin to close in on him. Jamie Wood looks ideal for the part of the father, all crazy hair, fraying clothes and general eccentricity, but doesn’t really tussle with his role. There is something genuinely sinister about this set up – the laboratory looks a little like Fritzl’s hovel – and Wood’s sympathetic performance fails to connect with the darker side of this father’s crushing ambition and claustrophobic love.

This is an undoubtedly overcomplicated show and at times, one wishes this company wouldn’t keep everything so close to their chest. Perhaps if Wood’s performance had been slightly firmer this show would’ve coalesced, but without this solid central force, the show frays around the edges. One longs for a little clarification: where and when is this story set and what scientific context is in place? Are this father’s ambitions for his son utter madness or steeped in real possibility? Is his insistence that his boy wear a mask every time he leaves the house pure paranoia or based in fact? There are so many unknowns that it’s hard to get a hold on these characters and the relative lunacy of their goals, as well as their decision to shut themselves away from the outside world. 

Still, this remains an intelligent and thoughtful show that conjures up another world which, as foreign and vague as it might be, contains the same human dynamics and dilemmas we face today.

15.25 till Monday 31 August 2009