The Truth About Harry Beck ★★★☆☆

This play is more fun than you can imagine, although you have to be a user of London Underground to get it. The ancient Greeks hung around the harbour to hear announcements about where their ships were, with ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ of recognition every time a ship’s name was mentioned. It was a bit like that as the actor playing Harry Beck, the creator of the London Underground map, said ‘Ladbrooke Grove’ and ‘Tottenham Court Road’. I know that station!

The Truth About Harry Beck unfolds at the teeny tiny London Transport Museum’s Cubic Theatre. It explores the life of Harry Beck, the visionary behind the iconic London Underground map (or, as he would insist, a schematic diagram), revealing how Beck’s innovative design transformed urban navigation. The script is filled with fascinating facts about London Transport history, although this educational agenda made it occasionally feel like an informative lecture rather than a traditional theatrical experience.

The play opens in a quaint retirement cottage in the New Forest, where Harry (played by Simon Snashall) and his wife Nora reflect on their lives, breaking the fourth wall to share anecdotes and insights about their journey together. The narrative is interspersed with moments that showcase Beck’s obsessive dedication to perfecting his ‘diagram’. The couple’s domestic life is depicted through charming scenes—one lovely moment involves Nora’s sewing basket, from which colored ribbons are pinned around the stage to symbolise the different tube lines (see picture below).

We had a sweet little start to the performance (21 December 2024). Writer and director Andy Burden stood up from the front row, to say that the actor who normally plays Nora Beck, Ashley Christmas, was ill, and her understudy was also unwell. So they’d drafted in an emergency actor to play Nora who had learned the lines over 48 hours, and Andy was sitting at the front to prompt her if she forgot any lines. Liz Mance did an incredibly job standing in at incredibly short notice, and played the role of Nora Beck to perfection.The performances by Snashall and Mance are central to the play’s emotional core. Snashall embodies Harry Beck with a nerdy charm, portraying his obsessive nature with humor and warmth. His portrayal effectively captures Beck’s single-minded dedication to his work while also hinting at deeper personal struggles—his inability to connect emotionally with Nora at times mirrors his fixation on his developing tube map.

Mance offered a multifaceted performance that balances supportiveness with frustration. She adeptly shifts between her role as Harry’s partner and various supporting characters from their professional lives.

While both actors deliver commendable performances, there were moments where their chemistry felt more like that of jovial co-workers than a deeply connected couple.