TOM CURZON

Last Friday night, here in Oundle, in the Stahl Theatre, we saw a production of Hamlet, directed by Oundle School's genius director Ali Boag.

 

There we saw a young man, 17 going on 18, give the finest performance of the Prince - that we have ever seen (and we are now getting on a bit and have seen quite a few - I'm talking professional theatre). 

Tom Curzon - Hamlet                                           Photograph: Helen Wisener

And it's a school production! Don't the spirits of parents often sink when they have to see a 'school production'? Not in this town anymore.

 

This young man's name is Tom Curzon and somehow in his few years he has developed the maturity, the intellectual capacity, the dramatic skills to absorb and then recreate this the most complex and profound of all Shakespeare's great roles. His performance was flawless, it was so good that it made the hairs on your neck stand up. No doubt that his performance would owe a lot to the direction of Mr Boag but direction can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear; you have to have a raw material to start with.

 

The first time I met Tom Curzon in the town was when he was giving a piano recital with a friend and they played and sang some Flanders and Swann (isn't it great that teenage boys know, respect and want to perform these wonderful songs?). Yes, Tom Curzon is pretty musical as well. He'll be doing his 'A' levels next year. And he's Head Boy of the School.

 

On the basis of what we saw last night he could be plucked from Oundle and put on the stage of the National Theatre now without missing a beat. Just remember the name TOM CURZON. You will hear it again.