O Holly Knight is set up as a nostalgic story that plays out in the run up to Christmas in a 1960’s Belfast that is still devoid of Troubles. There’s a newspaper editor who doesn’t know his own mind. A radio presenter – foreshadowing modern influencers with her tightknit team of better-informed advisers – who gets away with risqué innuendo on the BBC Home Service. So far so fictional!
Ruby Campbell plays Holly, the young woman of the moment with a magazine column, a reputation for fine dining and high fashion, and a blossoming broadcasting career. Bedecked in Diana Ennis’ period fashion, Campbell dazzles as sings Holly’s catchy theme song
This Town Belongs To Me.
Over in the office of the Belfast Chronicle, Richard Croxford plays the dithering editor Bob Baxter alongside his ambitious and overlooked receptionist Miss Boyd (Rosie Barry). The Fetch Me A Byline song begins in a very ambiguous key but is on firmer ground when repeated later in the story. Barry is underused in the first act, and after the interval her Miss Boyd character (who morphs from aspiring to conniving) is regrettably rushed through revelation, confession, justification and reinvention in the blink of a dramaturg’s eye.
Rea Campbell-Hill plays Johnny, a lad who is flamboyant by day, reserved by night. He uses his car as a wardrobe while he keeps himself in the closet, living at home with his devout mum played by a versatile Jo Donnelly who adds much mirth to her other parts as a print worker and the culinary genius behind Holly’s recipes. Their relationship and Johnny’s worry about coming out to his Mum turn out to be the most emotional issue requiring resolution in the play.
After the cliffhanger-free interval, Darren Franklin strides onto the stage as Hollywood star Brett Beaumont who is over filming in Belfast and to be the subject of an extended Belfast Chronicle profile. Miss Boyd (Barry) wonderfully smoulders – to the glee of the audience – during Brett and Holly’s big song and dance number.
Projections restyle Ciaran Bagnall’s smart angular set to create each location while Chris Warner adds subtle soundscapes like the ticking clock in Johnny’s house. Unfortunately, the overhanging upstairs room creates a lot of shadow down below and a number of scenes leave characters acting in relative gloom.
Sarah Jane Johnston’s choreography completely captures the moves of the swinging sixties. Director Colm G Doran wisely milks key comedic moments like the wobbly butler Walter (played by Croxford who throws himself into each of his roles). Writer Michael Cameron includes a nod back to the Hoffman’s department store from last year’s The Shop at the Top of the Town, though fanny and lumber jokes feel slightly cheap alongside the classier material. The finale lays bare everyone’s secrets for all to see, bar Brett’s which ends up shocking the audience (particularly due to a red herring that earlier hinted at a very different potential plot point) but is allowed to remain between him and Holly and isn’t turned into a newspaper headline.
O Holly Knight is at its strongest when it identifies that parents are often a step ahead of their children and tend to be more full of compassion than their offspring dare to believe. The success of the musical numbers and the energy of dance routines suggest that the talented cast may have deserved a few more songs along with a tighter ending to round off the show. Performances of
O Holly Knight continue at
Theatre at the Mill until Saturday 30 December.
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