Laurie Kynaston began researching his role in The Son by speaking to his own mother.
The actor plays a schoolboy whose divorced parents struggle to help him deal with collapsing mental health.
He said: “My mum is a nurse in an all-girls school and she works with teenage girls who are going through this kind of thing. She was also a midwife for a while and a children’s nurse... and she’s amazing with these things. I asked her a lot of questions about what are the trends you see in these young people.”
The cast also spoke to a divorce mediator and child mental health expert to prepare for the roles and Kynaston said he was proud to be “putting on a piece that makes people talk about that stuff”.
He said the cast were approached by audience members wanting to share their own experiences, adding: “It’s just great that the play is resonating so well with them.”
The Son is running at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End until November 2.
The Son at the Duke of York's Theatre - in pictures
-Laurie-Kynaston-(Nicolas)-and-John-Light-(Pierre).-The-Son.-Photo-by-Marc-Brenner.-PROD-1166.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
