Bomber’s Moon

Who Dares

Bomber’s Moon

byWilliam Ivory

Teddington Theatre Club at The Noël Coward Studio at the Hampton Hill Theatre until 15^th November

Review by Heather Moulson

Written by Made in Dagenham author, William Ivory, Bomber’s Moon is a significant play to put on on Armistice Day, and eighty years since the end of the Second World War.

In an apt studio design by director Wesley Henderson Roe, the avenue set has the authenticity of a detailed living area. Surrounded by bookcases, obsolete cameras, and other personal possessions, and with a working kitchen area, it nicely creates an atmosphere of a housebound elderly man in a residential care home.

However he is one who had had a powerful past. He is Jimmy, who had been a rear gunner in a bombing crew during the Second World War.

Jimmy has gained a new carer. Played with a constant strong energy, Oliver Tims portrays a nervy fussy presence, as David, the younger carer, touching in some places and irritating in others.

Despite Steve Taylor’s Jimmy turning the air blue, he creates moments of reticence, hostility, warmth, tenderness during his unravelling of past memories.

There is a deafening metaphorical sound of tables being turned, for Bomber’s Moon is a true character study that makes one ask who really is the most dependent. Jimmy’s flashbacks of wartime are atmospheric, dark, and revealing. We witnesses a strong performance as David’s persona comes apart at the seams in a test of who really is the stronger party.

Moody lighting by Ed Pagett, and the effective sound designed by Jacob Taylor enhance the atmosphere. The first half is tight but the second act rather stretches out, making it hard to appreciate its climax, and the moving ending. However, performances are vibrant and it is a successful two hander with a wonderful text, an intense study directed in great detail by Henderson Roe. In Bomber’s Moon, we witness a very poignant journey from two men of different worlds and eras in what evolves as a truly worthy tribute to the men of the RAF Bomber Command.

Heather Moulson, November 2025

Photography bySteve Sitton