Journay's End - Feb 08

2008 marks the 90th anniversary of the cessation of hostilities of the Great War. A horrendous four years in which 8.5 million soldiers lost their lives (from all sides), with a further 20 million wounded - and that's not even counting the 10 million civilians also to perish from 1914-1918.

It was, therefore, a fitting tribute that Sardines' first review should be a true theatrical landmark in First World War drama.

Director, Mair Lloyd-Roberts, pointed out in her programme notes, R.C. Sherriff's Journey's End "has come to be viewed as a play about the truth of war." It is a drama rooted from Sherriff's own experiences of the 'front-line' - even though Sherriff himself was not present at the battle at St. Quentin where Journey's End is set (Sherriff was wounded at Passchendaele in 1917).

At the heart of this moving drama we saw how ordinary men, like you and I, from all classes and backgrounds joined to fight because it was the decent thing to do, but at the same time adhering to a nonsensical policy that delivered thousands upon thousands of men to their untimely deaths. The battle at St. Quentin alone - over just three days - saw the slaughter of 227 British Officers and 4,879 lower ranked British soldiers.

It's also arguable that Journey's End has become such a theatrical landmark that it has some influence modern writing; take the award-winning (and touching) Blackadder goes Forth. What, with cooking gags, public school 'tally-hos', insensitive Generals, and trying to get out of the War by going mad or being sick …the comparisons are all-too obvious.

In BLT's production, great credit goes to Lloyd-Roberts for her excellent casting of this all-male environment. The need to faithfully represent men (and boys) in an age where society's class-system was firmly carried into the trenches was paramount. The central character is Captain Stanhope, the Company's Commander. David Evans took this role by the scruff of the neck (a part, he states, he has wanted to play all his life) and beautifully showed us a man struggling to hold himself together after three years in the trenches. Under the pressure of courageously leading his men and keeping the balance of authority, while in reality being as afraid as the next man, Stanhope has now found brief solace from this living hell by residing in a whisky-induced semi-permanent drunken state. Stanhope's self-loathing at how 'he' sees what he has become was portrayed by Evans with great skill.

Paul Campion as Stanhope's second-in-command, Lt. Osborne, was also equal to the task. Osborne was instantly recognisable as the approachable Officer, the level-headed sense of reason …the 'good bloke'. It's through Osborne, we get to understand the human side of the war, where we see men simply doing their duty. You got the impression these soldiers didn't even really hate the Germans. Campion did a very nice job of giving us these qualities, such as when Osborne recalls an occasion when the Germans allowed the British to rescue a wounded soldier from no-man's land by ceasing fire and shouting "carry him!" Osborne then ironically goes on "…the next day, we proceeded to blow each others trenches to bits."

If Osborne represented the human side, then fresh-faced public schoolboy, 2nd Lt. Raleigh, sensitively played by Warren Taylor, represented the naïve and excited youth of the day, queuing up to fight for King and Country without really understanding 'why'?

Raleigh already knows Stanhope from his schooldays and has successfully managed to wangle his way into his 'hero's' company; this seemingly innocent act of 'hero-worship' drives Stanhope even closer to breaking-point as Stanhope, who has been dating Raleigh's sister, fears Raleigh will be appalled at what he sees he has become - a shadow of his former self. The outcome is just as shocking for Raleigh as Stanhope in an irrational and uncontrolled rage decides that censoring Raleigh's letters will be the only way to stop 'back home' from discovering the 'broken man' he now sees himself as. The scene where Stanhope gets Osborne to read Raleigh's letter to him was one of the evening's most moving points. This play really is about the effect the futility of war had upon everyone.

Welcome light-relief came in the form of the Company's cook or ‘servant’, Private Mason. Matt Sharp played the role extremely well …without succumbing to an easy impression of Baldrick. Another well-played role came from Tom Newton as 2nd Lt. Trotter. Although Newton could have brought him up-market a little more, he nevertheless gave us a very likeable and reliable character. Other strong performances came from Simon Clark, as fear-stricken 2nd Lt. Hibbert trying to weasel his way out of the War with neuralgia; John Barrass, as the Colonel - whose lack of empathy with the whole human element around him was telling; Patrick Brown, as a very believable Sergeant Major; and David Howkins, as Captain Hardy with a nicely played cameo role at the outset with Campion's Osborne.

The staging was extremely authentic and very well designed, with the set dressed to perfection …it really was a dug-out in 1918, brilliant! As for the costumes, well with this type of production the costumes must be 100% correct. These were sourced from Khaki Devil Ltd in Ipswich and were outstanding.

The atmospheric challenge in designing the set surely must be recreating the obvious claustrophobia of the dug-out when, at the same time, still lighting the stage for an audience. The result was an open-topped set which, although Andy Howell's brilliant lighting design conveyed a perfect gloom (especially when the cold light of dawn leaked over the dugout steps), I still couldn't help feeling that a roof over the characters' heads would have really sealed them in. It's the impossible set-design isn't it - lighting a set through a ceiling. A roof level was portrayed in the form of netting stretched across over the set, but I wonder if a 'false ceiling' frame similar to the way large department stores are designed now could have been employed? All the same, congratulations to David Evans, Bert Howell and BLT’s set-building team for what was a truly amazing recreation.

The huge advantage, of course, in seeing over the top of the dug-out (BLT's auditorium is not raked so the audience are all housed in the 'stalls' - so a false ceiling would have ruined this) was the ability to use the rear wall and higher space for lighting, and this worked very well, especially at 'dawn' and during the bombing sequences. Here, the combination of lighting and sound effects were absolutely superb. The climactic bombing attack at the end of the play was extremely well done - as was the eerie solitude of the 'last post' which followed.

A few words about the 'smoking' onstage: absolutely correct. These men would all have smoked and the decision to allow smoking in this production was probably pivotal to the success of the overall image. Fake cigarettes would not have provided a satisfactory compromise, which, I understand, had to be the case with the awful fake candles that were used throughout the duration. A frustrating necessity (due to fire regulations) that the cast, crew and audience had to live with. Enough said there.

In conclusion I hope Lloyd-Roberts and her entire BLT team are very proud and thrilled with the outcome of Journey's End. This was an extremely well-crafted and a carefully thought-out production and I certainly felt privileged to be in the audience on the night I attended.

review by Paul Johnson