One of the greatest pieces of 20th century satire, Joan Littlewood’s Oh! What a Lovely War, turned 60 this year. Blackeyed Theatre In association with South Hill Park return to a show they had previously produced in 2011 with a fresh production to undertake a UK tour, writes Christopher Peacock.
Littlewood’s partner Gerry Raffles was the one who first pitched the idea of producing a show that tells the story of the First World War after hearing Charles Chilton’s radio play The Long Long Trial. With her company the Theatre Workshop they set about creating a musical that not only tells the factual story of the war but highlights the futility of that war and by extension, war itself.
Alan Clark’s book Donkeys, which was published a few years before was certainly influential in the company’s work as Clark argued that the average Tommy were lions in this conflict being led into battle by their donkey generals. A key point for Littlewood was that the cast would be dressed as Pierrots, the sad clown from Commedia dell’arte. The songs and scenes of trench warfare play out the ‘War Game’ and highlighted with stats of the war dead from each battle firmly drive home the senselessness of war.
This production stays true to the original material and Victoria Spearing’s set design places the action and cast under a shabby circus tent which looks on the verge of falling apart. The whole cast are trained actor-musicians and handle all of the music with aplomb. They take every opportunity to ham up the comedy and keep the farce nicely paced. Nicky Allpress’ direction is neat and efficient, especially with scene transitions and the slightly larger scale set pieces and musical numbers.
Oh! What a Lovely War is timeless as a piece, being so steeped in historical detail, and Blackeyed Theatre’s production certainly serves the play well. This musical farce retains plenty of laughs while always perforated with the statistics that expose the horrors of war without having to graphically show us.
Southwark Playhouse, 77 Newington Causeway, SE1 6BD until December 9th. Times: Mon – Sat 7.30pm; Tues & Sat matinees 3pm. Admission: £25, £20.
Booking: www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk
