Owen Sheers' verse drama about three young Bristol lads who sign up in the Army to live out their childhood dream and escape their lives packs a powerful punch.
Largely narrated by Arthur (Phil Dunster) this is the story of three school friends who played war in the playground. Taff (Peter Edwards) and Hads (Alex Stedman) have their own reasons for joining up and react differently the their first tour in Afghanistan. We see them through training, their tour and their time back home where the impact of the war on them ripples through to their wives and families (Erin Doherty, Rebecca Hamilton and Zara Ramm). The whole team were utterly credible and incredibly committed to the story and to the chosen techniques of the production - Phil Dunster's Arthur, though, is a stand-out performance even in this talented group.
Using a simple set of just a sunbed and a wheelchair, some great projection and lighting (Peter Harrison) and brilliant music and soundscapes (Jon Nicholls) John Retallack has produced a gem of a show. The highly styalisd choreography punctuates the story and gives it a coherence and an echo that plays well with the almost Under Milk Woodian (if you see what I mean) narration. The rhythms are easy to listen to and watch but the content is so very hard to hear.
The tales of these men, and their families, and of other men they have seen and fought with, do not end well. As so many do not end well. And we are taken on those journies, archetypes of the impact that modern war can have on the young men that fight it. A beautiful piece of which the whole team should be immensely proud and a well deserved standing ovation.
I hope that this production gets more exposure, it thoroughly deserves it - the two hours were gone in a flash, the lump in my throat is still there.
