Pattingham actor takes to the stage at Wolverhampton's Grand Theatre in production of 'Wonder Boy'

Life is hard for twelve-year-old Sonny, whose stammer makes it hard for him to negotiate a world full of vowels, consonants and small talk.

But on hand is his old friend, Captain Chatter, his imaginary comic book hero to help Sonny to be heard.

When Sonny is cast in a school production of “Hamlet” however, then the pressure is on for him to deliver a perfect performance.

As you would expect from the Winner of the 2023 Writers’ Guild Award for Best Play, “Wonder Boy” is a superb example of theatre which will inspire as well as entertain adults and older children alike.

I spoke to Matt Lim from Pattingham, near Wolverhampton, who appears in the role of Captain Chatter at certain performances.

Matt attended Shrewsbury School before heading to London to begin writing and directing his own projects – but his love of theatre began much earlier.

“At the age of seven or eight I went to Patchwork Drama Group, and then I joined Central Youth Theatre. But when I went to secondary school, my confidence dipped and I began to take more backstage roles, but it taught me about how theatre works rather than being on stage.

"When I went to university however, I rediscovered the love of performing. I then decided I wanted to write my own play, and it went from there," said Matt.

In London, he set up his own theatre group, which was very successful. Matt’s plays went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for seven years in a row and his work was shortlisted for a number of awards.

“I really loved it, but it is tough, so it is important to surround yourself with a good team. I knew who I liked to work with and who had the skills I required,” said Matt.

Matt is very passionate about “Wonder Boy” and believes that it should be included in the current school curriculum, which has come up against some resistance so far due to the use of strong language throughout the play.

I guess whilst schools cannot condone bad language, in reality children hear worse swearing in the playground and in some cases, sadly, at home.

“It almost feels more real because of the language used and also it is a way of relaxing Sonny into it. We also spoke to a lot of people who have stammers and they said it feels worse when the stakes are higher, for instance speaking to a teacher, so in order to relax them, they can use informal language,” said Matt.

He continued, “The higher the stakes, the worse the stammer becomes and it can be viewed as a sign of dishonesty, which then increases the pressure even more.” Sad but true.

Talking about his character, Matt said: "Captain Chatter is a metaphor which Sonny uses to avoid speaking to anybody, then there is a teacher called Miss Wainwright who helps him to accept his stammer.

"My character only exists in those moments when the stakes are highest so he is in perpetual crisis mode."

I asked Matt about the audition process for “Wonder Boy”, which is directed by the Olivier Award Winning director, Sally Cookson.

“I think Sally is one of the greatest directors right now, so I was excited to meet her,” he said. “We went through a scene where Captain Chatter was doing the most physical stuff and we had to display this through not only British Sign Language but also physical language and visual vernacular. They also asked us to tell a story, so I told a story about growing up in Wolverhampton and getting into trouble when I was growing up!” laughed Matt.

It certainly did the trick, as he was cast not only to appear in the play but understudy one of the leading characters.

One of Matt’s comedy idols was Rik Mayall, and so he decided to play his character in Rik’s style.

“Rik could look at a line and think – I could get three laughs out of this,” said Matt, and the same playful, uninhibited characterisation is exactly what Matt is bringing to his performance.

Matt has a host of family and friends coming to support him at the Saturday matinee, a chilled performance where the lighting and sound is softer for audience members who could be affected otherwise.

“The way we are doing the play is all about inclusivity and access,” said Matt. “There are a couple of British Sign Language (BSL) performances too and also a completely deaf actor in the cast. There are also creative captions throughout the show. It is 'access' first in terms of the company’s approach to it,” he told me.

“In Bristol we had a little lass called Evie who is blind and has scoliosis which affects her balance too, come and do a touch tour before one of our shows. She met the actors, touched some of the props and costumes and she also had a headset on because the show is also audio described,” Matt continued.

Theatre really is for everyone these days, and so it should be.

Matt is a big fan of Mark Rylance. “I saw him in the play “Jerusalem” and I could not take my eyes off him,” said Matt. “I was quite far at the back of the theatre, but I was still spellbound.

“My dream role would be the doctor in Dr. Who, but now after 'Wonder Boy', I am starting a run of school shows with years one and two teaching them to cross the road, I have been doing this for about seven years on and off, going to various schools. There is a lot of singing and dancing and dressing up as hedgehogs! It is a good day job,” he laughed.

Oh the glamour of theatre!

Catch “Wonder Boy” at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from October 2 to October 5. Visit grandtheatre.co.uk or call 01901 429212 for tickets.