By Jon Surtees

Another fine national touring production is at the Oxford Playhouse this week, My Boy Jack, written by and starring David Haig as Rudyard Kipling.

The focus of the play is on the inherent tension within Kipling between his almost slavish and jingoistic desire for all fit young men (including his boy Jack) to be conscripted into the First World War, and the hurt and emptiness felt when Jack is, inevitability, struck down mere days after arriving at the Western Front.

The performance of David Haig is one of the finest seen on an Oxford stage in recent memory. Playing Kipling as far softer than expected opened up an entirely new side of the great mans personality. It is important to realise that whilst one may find a view held abhorrent, it does not necessarily follow that the holder of that view is beyond all hope as a human being. This is the case with Haig's Kipling.

A scene where Kipling gives a fervent speech imploring parents to send their children into war (whilst making clever comparisons with 21st century eurosceptic politicians) is counterbalanced by a spellbinding flashback scene, where Kipling is telling both his children a bedtime story. Haig is able to draw the finest line between Kipling's desire to protect his family and his country, and by doing so gives a virtuoso performance that few could achieve.

The supporting cast led by Belinda Lang as Caroline Kipling and Ben Silverstone as Jack Kipling all give first-rate performances. Rosanna Lavelle plays Elsie Kipling as the voice of modernity in a Victorian family, and as such is at the centre of many of the more interesting moments within the Kipling household.

The only scene that lets the play down slightly is the final scene of the first half, set on the Western Front. The scene change beforehand is magnificently menacing but the scene itself is marred by slight overacting and one of the worst Irish accents in living memory, courtesy of Chris Moran.

This however is a minor criticism of what is otherwise a thoroughly excellent production and a credit to both David Haig the actor and David Haig the writer.

My Boy Jack is at the Oxford Playhouse until Saturday May 29th. For ticket information phone 01865 305305.