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Making a living from dying
James Lailey, Oliver Senton, Helen Chadwick, Rebecca Thorn and Michael Mears. Pictures: Simon RichardsonWar Correspondents
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
*** THIS new Helen Chadwick Song Theatre
production premiered in Birmingham Rep's The Door – the ideal space for
a show this concentrated. War Correspondents aims to turn the spotlight on
those who make a living from reporting and photographing conflict. It is based on a series of interviews with war
reporters from around the world including the UK's Martin Bell and
interweaves recordings of their stories with a song cycle of scenes
acted out by a cast of five. The show asks a lot of questions which have been
asked many times before in memoires, literature and commentaries. What
effect does watching daily horror have on the psyche and the soul?
And it also looks at modern dilemmas of war
reporting – to embed or not, how to counter the spin, how to see through
the stories being weaved by the military.
Created by composer Helen Chadwick and Olivier
Award winning director Steven Hoggett, War Correspondents blends music,
dance, poetry and story-telling in a kaleidoscope of images and
impressions. Many of the stories are based on real-life
experiences and come from conflicts in Africa, the Middle East, Chechnya
and Bosnia. And the stories are not pretty. We hear of a
reporter who meets a sniper who tried to kill him just the day before.
Another who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after having a gun
put to her head. Another who tells us that rather than becoming
'battle-hardened' he has become 'battle-softened' and over sensitive to
others' pain. The cast, James Lailey, Michael Mears, Oliver
Senton, Rebecca Thorn and Helen Chadwick, bring these stories alive with
song and movement. There are times when a lack of words does hamper
the action with some scenes too obscure to really gather what is going
on. These are moments when the show would benefit from a bit of clarity. But there is a rapid fire quality to it which
takes us through the scenes at a quick pace so that the 75 minute show
actually feels much shorter. War Correspondents has been co-commissioned by
Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, Sage Gateshead and New
Writing North and is supported by Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Its run
in Birmingham is short at just three nights but it will hopefully have
plenty more opportunities to provoke thought and discussion.To 26-04-14 Diane Parkes
25-04-14
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How
do those behind the lens respond to photographing suffering? Can you
ever walk away from war?