Overview

Above a pub in North London, Phil is drinking and fighting off mild panic about his comeback gig. His manager's already dumped him and he's worried about finding a place to stay for the night too. As he laments his dwindling career, his supporters gather to wish him well. Craving success and celebrity too, Josh suspects his father of behaving very badly. With the time of the performance fast approaching, guilty secrets emerge that split the family wide apart. Tonight, Phil's career might not be the only thing in tatters. Comic and moving, Broken Lad is a subtle examination of masculinity in distress.

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9781912430666

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The most powerful element of Hooper's script is looking at how a life of disappointment is compounded by one's peers doing well. A lot of Phil's bitterness comes because his contemporaries broke into television and earned enough to have comfortable lives. - Reviews Hub; It is important to show a huge demographic of the British public (fifty-something white men, but not those running things) on the stage and we get a glimpse of their ugly self-pity and the loneliness that provokes it... - Broadway World.

... A taut rendering of Robin Hooper's tale of love and betrayal in the armed forces is imbued with a grim realism. **** (re 'Love your soldiers') It is important to show a huge demographic of the British public (fifty-something white men, but not those running things) on the stage and we get a glimpse of their ugly self-pity and the loneliness that provokes it... The most powerful element of Hooper's script is looking at how a life of disappointment is compounded by one's peers doing well. A lot of Phil's bitterness comes because his contemporaries broke into television and earned enough to have comfortable lives. Review: Broken Lad at London's Arcola - 'Twisted family drama' (thestage.co.uk)

Author Information

Robin Hooper is an actor, writer and director. He has acted on stage, television and film. He has had a long career as an actor, working with the Glasgow Citizens and the Liverpool Everyman early in his career. He has worked in television regularly, appearing in Love Nina and The Office on the BBC. More recently he has returned to writing for the theatre and has directed his own work. Robin has also been Literary Manager at both Paines Plough and the Royal Court Theatre.

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