Oh, What a Lovely War!
Everyman Theatre
Chapter Arts Centre, Theatre
11th-15th November
2014
As the nation marks the
centenary of the First World War, Everyman bring the anti-war, play-with-music Oh, What a Lovely War! to the stage at
Chapter Arts Centre.
Oh,
What a Lovely War! satirises those responsible for World War
One and offers a scathing view of the conflict from a soldier’s perspective. Alongside
witty scenes and upbeat musical numbers, the backdrop shows projections of
shocking statistics detailing those lost in each skirmish.
For Everyman this is a bit
of a return to their roots, having been established in 1942 as the Unity
Theatre Group that focussed on political theatre. They stay faithful to Joan
Littlewood’s iconic Theatre Workshop production of 1963 with Pierrot costumes
that highlight the absurdity of war and the tragedy of the lives lost. The set
is simple, a number of flags hang from the ceiling, allowing the audience to
focus of the live action and projections.
This production is very
challenging for the cast who must sing, dance and act, taking on numerous roles
throughout the show. Although the scenes are sometimes hampered by dodgy
accents, the musical numbers are incredibly performed. Musical director Lindsey
Allen is onstage throughout providing musical accompaniment and support for the
strong voices of the cast.
The choreography by Richard
Thomas is ambitious and wonderfully executed. The whole cast prove they can
move in the large chorus numbers and there are some impressive solos.
For the most part the
characterisation was strong, but the scenes were sometimes difficult to
establish due to the fragmented nature of the piece. The cast were also often unavoidably
blocking the projection screen meaning vital pieces of information were lost.
This is a timely production
and you can’t help but feel the sentiment is sadly too relevant for 2014. As we
continue to fight for reasons concealed by those in power it is a horrible
reminder that things have not really changed much since 1914 in terms of
conflict.
Everyman should be commended
for their dedication in bringing this challenging play to life with vibrant
energy and passion.
Tickets: £10
7.30pm with 2.30pm matinee
on Saturday
Tickets available from Chapter Arts Centre 02920 304400
Tickets available from Chapter Arts Centre 02920 304400
Oh dear! The main design concept was the flags. But they were wrong - wrong and anachronistic. The German flag was the modern German flag, not the Imperial German flag. The Russian flag was not right either. Well, at least it was not the hammer and sickle. But we were later "treated" to Irish volunteers, fighting for the British Empire - but waving the flag of the "Irish rebels" - the Republican tricolour. Was this going to be an am dram "who cares" production?
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the choreography - and the musical direction - it wasn't. And there were some excellent individual performances and a lot of very god singing. However overall the production made little sense. Perhaps unsurprising if the director did not understand the importance of getting thd basis history right. And yes - that is vital! This was a war between competing empires. Not about democracy or democratic states fighting a just war - or about the Irish Republic being represented, before it even existed. It was about competing empires battling it out, using its citizens as mere canon fodder. And getting the symbolism right is vital. And shows respect.
Overall it looked as if the scenes might have been individually rehearsed then randomly thrown together on the night. The piece semed to have no overall concept at all. It was almost as if there was no artistic direction al all and that thd cast had simply been given scripts for individual scenes - and told to get on with it. Not what I would have expected of this theatre company.
Thank you very much for creating some discussion about this piece.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you about the very confused nature of the piece but I also appreciate how hard it is to combat such a complex production - especially as an amateur group.
This is, surprisingly, my first experience of watching an Everyman production and therefore I had no standard with which to compare this piece. I get little enjoyment out of criticizing a community theatre for their lack of professionalism. No, I am not saying that this means they can be sub-par, but they cannot be held to the same standard as professional companies.
I must disagree about the choreography - for an untrained cast in a small space I thought it was simple but effective!