Dear Lupin

3
Reviewer's Rating

Dear Lupin’s stage adaptation of Roger Mortimer’s letters tells the story of a loving father and the struggles of coping with his wayward son. They play recalls his misadventures as a teenager, his failed attempt at losing his virginity and his misdemeanors at Eton college, which ends in expulsion. He joins the Coldsteam Guards as a way of appeasing his father, which succeeds at first until he falls into drinks, drugs and illicit, sexual activity. Despite his delinquent behavior, his father’s unconditional love never fails to support his son’s decisions, even at the darkest times of his life. Although this heart-warming tale of father and son, played by real-life father and son, James and Jack Fox is captivating, the choice to narrate the story at times removes the immediacy of the play. However, the final dance to the Eton Boating song and their final embrace leaves a long lasting impression of the special bond between a loving father and his hopeless son that carries on living only as a fond memory.