The Winslow Boy is an English 1946 play by Terence Rattigan based on an actual incident in the Edwardian era, which took place at the Royal Naval College, Osborne House. Set against the strict codes of conduct and manners of the age, The Winslow Boy is based on a father's fight to clear his son's name after the boy is expelled from Osborne Naval College for stealing a postal order. The subsequent court case takes its toll on the rest of the family.

For me, the jury is still out on this Little Theater of Virginia Beach production. For everything that I liked there was another thing that I disliked. Just when I found myself getting into the story, something would distract me. The first thing that struck me as odd was the fact that, while a storm is continuously referenced in Act One, and we as the audience KNOW that Ronnie is outdoors; he comes in, completley DRY (except for his hair), and there is much fuss over how “wet” he is.

The next thing to distract me was the abundance of accents. No two people sounded alike let alone like they were from the same family or region.  This story COULD have been told sans the accents. For me, accents either work or, well – they don’t.

The highlights of the evening for me were the performances of Nancy Bloom (Violet), Kathleen Naughton (Grace Winslow), Lizzie Martingayle (Catherine Winslow), Bill Vaughn (Sir Robert Morton) and Michael Mellion (Arthur Winslow).  These people understood their respective characters. They engaged you and kept you hanging on their every word.

The set is remarkable. This was my first visit to the Little Theater of Virginia Beach, and I really like the uniqueness of this venue.

I was thoroughly impressed with the use of the space.

Lighting (Ron Noble) was hit and miss. The times where it was most effective were too short and when it was wrong - well it was just wrong. It totally broke my concentration to see the Stage Crew come out in the light to change the scene, and then the light would go black for the scene change. The other problem with lights were that they were brought up too quickly and didn’t allow for the actors to be completely removed before the Stage Crew came on to strike. Again, it totally broke the continuity in the story.

Costume Design (Bob Weaver & Jorja Jean) were time period appropriate, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the dresses and fancy hats that the female cast wore. I did question why all the men except Desmond (Jim Miller) were wearing “tails”. His suit didn’t quite fit in with the formal attire the rest of the gentlemen displayed.

Overall, I love the story. I loved the show. I think more time could have been spent “developing” this show, but I still think it’s a great night of theater.   The Winslow Boy is running through December 2, 2007.