My Boy Jack (photo: Peter Mould/Stables Theatre).

My Boy Jack

Stables Theatre are working with Bateman’s to mark the centenary of the outbreak of World War One with a production of the David Haig play My Boy Jack,  based on the moving, true story of Rudyard Kipling and his son John (Jack), writes Chris Cormack. It is about the impact of the Great War on one family.

In 1913, when the play opens, Kipling was the most famous writer in the world, the Poet Laureate of the Empire, living at his beautiful Sussex home, Bateman’s, near Burwash in East Sussex.

The Kipling family at Bateman's, featuring actors James Slacke (foreground) as Jack, Bill Allender as Rudyard Kipling, Susannah Mayor as his wife Carrie and Mae Jackson as Elsie Kipling (photo: Peter Mould).

War with Germany is imminent, and Rudyard Kipling, actively promoting recruitment to the army, is determined to send his son to war – despite Jack’s partial blindness. Jack himself is keen to enlist – but not because of his father’s patriotism. A family conflict is triggered and Kipling is torn between his love for his children and his devotion to king and country.

A photoshoot at the home of Rudyard Kipling provided inspiration for a group of Stables actors preparing to portray the great poet and his family. The cast was

Kipling family actors at Bateman's (photo: Peter Mould).

invited to experience the atmosphere of the beautiful Kipling family home of Batemans, in Burwash. The home remains much as it was left by the Kiplings and is the main setting for My Boy Jack.

Director Chris Lacey said that visiting the home where this family lived really brought home the fact that they were telling the story of a real family. He was grateful to the National Trust for the opportunity to visit Batemans and photograph the cast, and to photographer Peter Mould for the wonderful images he was able to capture.

John Kipling’s story is not one of the most unusual in all the horror of the First World War, but it is probably one of the most poignant. It is illustrated by a display of heartening personal letters in the exhibition room at Bateman’s.

Rudyard Kipling is played by Bill Allender, Jack by James Slacke, Carrie Kipling by Sarah Evans and daughter Elsie Kipling by Mae Jackson. Other cast members include Nick Carn and Martin Miles. The production is directed by Christopher Lacey.

My Boy Jack: The Stables Theatre and Arts Centre, The Bourne, Hastings TN34 3BD, Friday 7 to Saturday 15 November at 7.30pm, Sunday 9 November at 3pm. No performance Monday. Adults £12.50, members, under-18s and groups £7.50, £2 OFF all tickets first night and Sunday.

My Boy Jack (photo: Peter Mould/Stables Theatre).

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