Suited and booted Trumpet blowing

Trumpet
The Drill Hall
By Catherine Etoe

JOSS Moody is the most famous male trumpeter of his era. Thing is, Joss is actually Josephine… a woman, but no one knows it but his wife. Unfortunately, his adopted son Colman isn’t too happy when their secret is clumsily revealed by an insensitive undertaker upon Joss’s death.
“My father didn’t have a dick or balls, he had tits, what helpline is there to call for that?” he growls.
It’s a funny throwaway line, but there is nothing casual about Grace Barnes’ adaptation of Jackie Kay’s award winning novel Trumpet, which toured schools in Camden and Islington last week.
Inspired by the real life story of Billy Tipton, a jazz pianist who was born Dorothy but lived as a man, Trumpet is an earthy exploration of identity, memory, betrayal and, peripherally, sexuality.
We don’t have long to wait to share the secret Joss (Cathy Tyson) quite literally revealed to a shocked but smitten Millie (Bridget McCann) 34 years previously.
Millie’s re-binding of Joss’s breasts in the dimly lit room which serves as a back drop to the front of stage action in Alison Irwin’s excellent two-level set emphasises her complicity in their deception.
But Colman (the promising Ludvig Bonin) reacts badly and embarks on a titillating book on the story with scheming journalist Sophie (Susan Coyle).
It’s a clever construct because it is Sophie’s questioning of Joss’s old friends and bitter son that allows the layers of his/her life to be stripped away until even Colman is forced to re-evaluate.
And it works. Sure there’s the odd gripe – Sophie is disappointingly stereotypical and despite admirable acting, the suited and booted Tyson is visually unconvincing (less Hilary Swank more Little Jimmy Kranky).
But as part of the Drill Hall’s five-year plan to bring issues of homophobic bullying to schools, this un-preachy play is surely the perfect start.
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