Jonathan Maitland seems to have survived his mother quite well, and has had success as a journalist and playwright, writing about various famous personalities. In his latest play, How To Survive Your Mother, he moves on from Princess Diana, Jimmy Savile and Boris Johnson to perhaps his biggest challenge: writing about himself. He’s done this before, of course, in a book; and this play is presumably based on that book, and fits well into the programme at the King’s Head Theatre in Islington, a comfortable underground venue.

In what was perhaps a misjudgement, Maitland has decided to include the authorial voice at first hand by appearing in the play as himself. He is a shadowy, uncertain presence, especially compared to the necessarily broad-brush acting going on around him. The intention is perhaps to underline the authenticity of the outlandish story being told, with Maitland sent away to boarding school from the age of three and in thrall to his monster of a mother. The ensuing tale is told on a stage furnished only with wire boxes of props and against a rather baggy sky cloth.

The bulk of the play revolves around his mother, an outlandish creation: an exuberant and uncaring Jewish woman with an uncertain grasp of reality, who claimed to be French and Spanish, and who ran a series of unlikely enterprises including a care home and a short-lived gay hotel, which she named Hotel Homolulu. And all in North Cheam; what would the passengers on the 93 bus have made of it had they known? Tonally, this all seems madcap and preposterous, with characters sketched in by the hard-working cast and no actual anguish or hurt to be seen.

It would be necessary to read Maitland’s book to find out the full story, but based on this play, his mother was simply a little unhinged rather than abusive, which may not have been the intention. It is, after all, an appalling story of neglect but played for laughs, and is presented under Oliver Dawe’s direction as something of a romp; it is difficult to be sure what the overall tone is intended to be as it seems to veer between the tragic and the comic.

Maitland has given himself the line “I am not an actor” and we would not disagree. The other four performers most definitely are powerful actors however, with Emma Davies working her socks off as the mad, bad mother (and occasionally appearing as Maitland’s wife script in hand and understandably looking concerned). As Maitland himself as a young man, Peter Clements is the one character who perhaps conveys some of the hurt caused by this upbringing, and does have the benefit of playing the same character for a period of time.

As a host of other characters, John Wark and Stephen Ventura prove themselves to be highly effective in a wide range of roles. Remarkably, at the centre of this bizarre tale, a very young actor plays Maitland as a boy. This actor (Howard Webb at press night) is a calm and authoritative presence who seems to cope well with having been cast in such a piece after his previous role in 101 Dalmatians.

How To Survive Your Mother has a phenomenal tale to tell, and goes some of the way to tell it, thanks to some talented performers. It is certainly entertaining for much of the time (despite it being another 90 minutes straight through play, always an uncomfortable length) and with future development may yet evolve into a more satisfying dramatic experience.

*** Three stars

Reviewed by: Chris Abbott

How To Survive Your Mother plays at London’s King’s Head Theatre until 24 November, with further info here.