Epic war drama stages a comeback
ONE of the greatest war plays of modern times, For King and Country has opened at the Grand Opera House.
John Wilson's classic First World War drama tells the story of a simple young soldier, Private Arthur Hamp, who walks away from the battlefield at Passchendaele after enduring the death of his entire battalion.
Lieutenant Hargreaves is assigned to defend the Private who is charged with desertion.
The prisoner's devastating experience of the Front changes the lawyer's outlook on war – his sense of duty to the boy becomes a passionate compulsion to save him from the firing squad.
Director Tristram Powell said: "Hamp was little more than a boy when he enlisted in 1914, and he's been through every kind of hellish battle.
"In 1917 his will to fight breaks – he walks away from the line, is picked up by the military police and court martialed."
The play centres around whether Hamp is a coward or suffering from shell-shock.
It is both a historical work and a timely look at the consequences of war, with particular emphasis on the impact is has upon those who fight it.
"Hemp's quite inarticulate, but has an honesty which exposes all the compromises that the officers have had to make to carry on fighting in unbearable conditions," Tristram said.
The director has built up an impressive body of work in film and TV, so it is ironic that his first theatre show should be a classic that is best remembered for its on-screen adaptation.
John Hurt launched his career in the original stage production in 1964.
In the same year Joseph Losey's film adaptation, starring Tom Courtenay and Dirk Bogarde, received huge critical acclaim and won the BAFTA for Best Picture.
Tristram said: "I saw the film, it was fantastic, and someone suggested that I read the play."
He did, and the idea of directing For King and Country developed from there.
While this is his first theatre production, it has definite cinematic leanings.
"I've tried to make it closer to a filmic experience than a piece of theatre," Tristram said.
The show has no interval, and its 90-minute running length makes it more like going to see a film rather than a play.
Starring Adam Gillen as Hamp and Daniel Weyman as Lieutenant William Hargreaves, the production comes to Northern Ireland as part of a nationwide tour which has seen the show gain widespread critical acclaim.
For Tristram, working on stage brought a new set of challenges.
"It's completely different to TV – there is a lot more time to talk over scenes and unpick them with a theatre production," he said.
"When you're making a film or television programme, there is a read-through, then it splits up into its constituent parts and you only talk to the actors in a particular scene.
"Here, there is also a lot more communal activity and discussion, the ensemble side of it was quite new to me – there is much more of a group feeling and the sense of a complete, shared experience all the way through.
"And there is a collective responsibility for the piece, with particular emphasis on those on stage.
"The actors take possession of the play, whereas with a film or TV it stays in the hands of the director and producer – they can steer the process from the beginning, through the filming and on to post-production and editing," Tristram said.
"This was a totally different experience – you do feel that you're getting back to the roots of what acting is about."
While any drama dealing with war will have resonance today given the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Tristram's main aim was telling the story – to make the piece engaging for an audience, rather than trying to somehow enhance the sensibilities of the play for modern theatregoers.
"It's not right for directors or actors to try and make things relevant," he said "that's the audience's job".
"The theatre should convey the attitudes of the time, and be fair to all points of view – this is what allows the audiences to make the jump to the material and attitudes of the time, and connect with the play."
And he said a good story is a good story whether is was written last week, last year or a century ago.
While most theatre directors are reluctant to sit in the crowd and watch their play being performed – as the work is no longer in their hands – Tristram takes a different view.
"I've been keeping up with it at most of the venues on the tour," he said. "It's fantastic to see it coming together in a single whole – there's a real sense of commitment from the actors to the emotional content of the story."
He added that the play changes with each performance, "hopefully for the better," he said. And it's the emotional content which Tristram said will have the greatest impact on theatregoers.
"Audiences should expect a powerful experience. They will come in with one set of thoughts about the First World War and, hopefully, they'll leave with another set. At least that's what I would hope."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Belfast
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Heavy rain
Temperature: 2 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 5 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South west
