Saturday 14th may at the New Theatre,Cardiff. A play by David Wood and starring David Troughton as Tom Oakley. A story of a young boy (William Beech) evacuated to the countryside as World War Two looms, who is taken in by Tom rather reluctantly at first.

As the play progresses we start to see a relationship develop between William,Tom and the other children in the village especially a young thespian named Zach. The other cast members play dual roles including the other children in the village.

Williams mother portrayed by Melle Stewart, a hard religious woman who beats will before he is evacuated,is not seen until act two but envokes a dangerous threat to will as he is sent back home to be with his mum. These scenes are very harrowing with the upshot that will is left alone with his little newborn sister and tied in a cupboard until found by Tom, who missed will and went to London to find him.

From that moment on we see the struggle for Tom to adopt will after kidnapping him from his hospital bed during an air raid.

This play was extremely well made with a host of good actors taking you through a roller coaster ride to a satisfying end which brought a tear to many eyes in the auditorium. A special mention to Sammy the dog played by Elisa De Grey,who was outstanding and reminded me a little of war horse puppeteers,so good to watch and so lifelike you forgot it was a puppet by the end of the show.

In all a fantastic show,wonderfull acting by all and would definitely see this production again. Unfortunately it’s ended its run in Cardiff but is still touring.