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Coming soon to a trench near you!
Oh What a Lovely War
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
***** THE poignancy of this show is palpable in
this time of commemoration of the ‘War to end all wars’. It is a moving production and comes out of the
juxtaposition of the jolly, jingoistic war songs, even the bawdy, gutsy
songs of the soldiers and horrors portrayed on the stage in microcosm
and on the backdrop screen in reality. Joan Littlewood’s vision is alive and well in
this thought-provoking Theatre Royal The set is a recreation of an Edwardian theatre
in war time with Union flags and Britannia in front of an amazing
proscenium arch. The company has some very famous faces and some that
will be famous in years to come – all incredibly hard-working and
efficient. I particularly liked the role of Master of Ceremonies (Ian
Reddington) who initially guided us into the ‘War Games’ section that
laid out, in as few moves as possible, the reasons behind the First
World War. I have a History degree but I’m not going to
attempt it here…suffice it to say the four-year scrap left 10 million
young men dead and many more injured and missing. What comes across
incredibly strongly is the arrogance and ignorance of General Haig, and
the senseless loss and the heartbreak of the whole. The most moving section is the arrival of the new
Irish brigades, picked off one by one, and the ‘mutiny’ of the French
soldiers, baaing like lambs to the slaughter, and choosing to be shot
rather than face any more. The zombie dance for the well-known ‘Bells of
Hell’ song is wonderful. If I’ve painted a picture of pain and heartache,
yes there’s plenty, but overall it’s an optimistic and funny production
where the joy of the music – with a real band in a real orchestra pit –
and some great performances, particularly the role of the women in
engaging their men to sign up – white feathers flung into the audience
and Wendi Peters leading the audience in a rich rendition of ‘Sister
Susie Sewing Shirts for Soldiers’! The part that did it for me for the famous scene
of Tommy on Christmas Eve listening to ‘Jerry’ singing Stille Nacht
and responding with ‘Christmas Day in the Cookhouse’ – and an amazingly
choreographed game of football in no-man’s land. This is first-class stuff, directed by Terry
Johnson,and as such is truly unmissable. To 04-04-15 Jane Howard
31-03-15 The production is at Birmingham Repertory Theatre 5-9 May, 2015
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