Cyril's Little Moments of Weakness and Strength
British Theatre Guide *****
This is a beautiful little piece that, like Garner's award-winning Silent Engine last year, gets under the skin of real people. It is both poignant and funny despite apparently limited material.
Cyril, played by Jeffrey Mayhew who also directs, has a lot to put up with. He looks after his elder brother, Josh (David Williams). This may not sound too great an imposition but Josh is confined to a wheelchair and blind.
The relationship between the two is crafted with real love. Their tetchy bickering and considerate moments are equally believable and each knows all too well when he is winding the other up.
The frustrations of both are manifest. The only entertainment that Josh has, other than irritating his brother, is listening to reports of football matches. He has a bank of 500 and knows them by heart. Cyril, who dislikes football, has to feed this need by attending games between the likes of Erith and Welling or in the local pub league, to create some excitement for Josh. He would rather be tending his fuschias.
Their stable lives are thrown into turmoil when Cyril, hardly the master of the chat-up line, meets a schoolteacher, Janie Booth's Alice, and invites her home. The reactions of all three to this strange situation are both inevitable and tear-provoking. For anyone that has looked after an infirm relative or watched anyone doing it, Cyril will be extremely familiar. All three actors are excellent, particularly Williams, eyes screwed shut, and like Silent Engine, this touching drama is a gem.
Philip Fisher, 16th August 2003