Mr Stink

Mr Stink stinks. To the people of the town where he has moved to take up residence on a park bench, that is his most notable feature, and the name that he chooses to go by. Chloe, played by Romy Watson, is the one person who is friendly towards him, introducing herself and promising to get him some sausages.  Chloe has a number of problems herself: bullied by mean girls at school, harassed by her upwardly-mobile mother to do better at school, and not as extraordinary as her sister.  Unlike her father, Mr Crumb, she isn’t able to simply disappear from view and avoid being pressed into service towards her mother’s electoral ambitions.

This play, based upon the children’s book by David Walliams, is heartwarming and funny. Mr Stink, played by John O’Hare, is both amusing and wise and does things his own way, including bathing in the garden. Anna Cheney is a treat as Mrs Crumb, seeking election and showing all her prejudices. Her distress and confusion at the chaos that Mr Stink brings to her ambitions is very clear.

Darren Sabadina plays Mr Crumb, who is hiding his unemployment from his bossy wife and who dearly loves his daughters. He also plays Raj, the local shopkeeper, with great comic timing and encourages participation in his favourite Bollywood dance.

Set design by James Browne is clever – moving from a shopfront to a park, and the dining room in the Crumbs’ house. Lighting design is by Nicholas Higgins.

This production is perfect for the young at heart.

Rachel McGrath-Kerr

Images: Romy Watson and John O'Hare in Mr Stink. Photographer Heidrun Lohr.