BOOK REVIEWS
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Journey's End The Playhouse Theatre, London to October 2004, thereafter on National Tour |
I was interested to see how a modern audience would relate to Journey's End. The great War was a long time ago, of course, and there's a lot of modern "baggage" which attaches to its memory now.
That the play was written for an audence which knew only too well from their own experience what the Great War was like. The play's appeal to its original audiences was that from among its stereotypical characters, each would recognise elements of himself, his own strengths and weaknesses.
That explains its success then. But what success could it expect now, when modern audiences also come with their own knowledge of the war, knowledge which, however, cannot be first-hand, but can well be the result of whatever prejudices, stories and "well known facts' may have influenced them? Does the play have anything to say to us today?
As far as this production is concerned, the answer is a most emphatic "yes." In the confined space of a Western Front dugout (brilliantly and even claustrophobically created in spite of the playhouse's huge stage) we see a group of men separated from their normal lives and homes. They cannot do just as they like, as we can. They have tied themselves to a cause - a committment which they must honour at any cost, something we don't have to do today. And they care very much indeed about what other people think of them - something of a forgotten value nowadays. Yet these tired, frightened men, steeped in values which are mere history to many of us, still have something to say to us. They say something noble, and they show us some of the values which we have lost. They show us humour and anger, resignation and decision, horror and beauty, kindness and suffering. They tell us - so powerfully - about humanity.
The performance is an incredibly moving experience. I make my living from my interest in the Great War and I don't get too emotionally involved in the subject these days but this production was so poignant and powerful that I was left emotionally overwhelmed.
The direction is superb. I will not single out any of the cast - there is no individual actor whose performance is not first-rate. The authenticity of the set and the costume and equipment is as accurate as it could possibly be. You cannot fail to be moved and inspired by this production. And you will not forget it.
If I were Cultural Dictator, I would make everyone see it. Simple as that!
Journey's End
is being performed at the Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Avenue,
London, until the end of October 2004 after which the production will begin
a national tour.
To see further details of the London production, visit www.seejourneysend.com
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