Boy Who Saw True, The

In the late 1800s, when a sweet-natured eight-year-old boy saw visions, his parents treated his ability as a mental aberration and dragged him to various doctors, his school teacher ridiculed him, and his peers treated him with derision and contempt. If a child were to see the same visions today, his parents would drag him to Oprah, his teachers would grant exclusives to the "Enquirer," and his peers would treat him with derision and contempt. (Well, kids will be kids.)

The Boy Who Saw True, Glen Williamson’s adaptation of the anonymous diaries of a 19th century clairvoyant, is both a charming story of a soul almost too gentle for this world and a touching condemnation of a society that refuses to acknowledge (or tolerate) spirituality that strays from accepted norms.

Williamson, adapter and sole performer, sets up the boy’s story as a memory play; he appears first as an adult, comfortable with his gift but somewhat overwhelmed by the public’s curiosity and need -- visitors are constantly asking him about dead relatives, etc. Wisely, though, most of Boy is seen through the eyes of a child, adorably naive and responding to adults’ kindnesses and cruelties without an ounce of guile. There isn’t a moment in Williamson’s performance as an English schoolboy blessed with “second sight” that isn’t as affecting as it is convincing.

In fact, The Boy Who Saw True seems untrue only in its final fifteen minutes. With the help of Mr. Patmore, a tutor whose uncommon understanding has shielded him from cranky teachers and schoolyard indignities, the boy has made a fairly normal passage into adulthood. Unfortunately, the grown man’s failing marriage, complaints about being a celebrity, and thoughts on holism aren’t nearly as well-detailed or interesting as the child’s experience of being special.  MoThere’s probably a musical in here somewhere (or at least a better wrap-up), but until that next step, The Boy Who Saw True serves as both a welcome introduction to the talented Mr. Wiliamson and a lovely bit of childhood nostalgia.