The story of soldiers convalescing during the First or Second World War is one well explored on stage and screen, with the horrors endured and the also enduring post-traumatic stress often offering rich emotional depth. 368 Theatre’s new production treads familiar ground in the uniquely grim (and, aptly, allegedly haunted) setting of Brighton’s Old Police Cells.
Nigel Fairs (In Conversation With An Acid Bath Murderer), writing, and Louise Jameson (EastEnders, Doctor Who, Toast of London), directing, collaborate here to tell the tale of two injured WW1 soldiers and the nurse helping ease their suffering. At first glance, we meet Len (Dan Burgess), a boy recruit who lied about his age, who has received blinding shrapnel wounds to both eyes and crippling leg wounds on his very first day on the battlefield.
Long-suffering nurse Connie (Emmerdale star Suzanne Procter) puts up with his outbursts on a daily basis until Andrew (Richard Stemp), an officer, stumbles into the room as ostensibly a victim of shellshock, gibbering and terrified. The interaction between the three slowly reveals more than meets the eye as the circumstances are revealed surrounding how they got where they are, questioning the barbaric injustice and senselessness of war.
Strong performances (particularly from Stemp as the troubled Andrew), if occasionally a little one-note-shouty, movingly and mostly successfully pull the audience in to this tribute to individual sacrifice in the service of a supposed greater good, despite Fairs’ slightly formulaic treatment and somewhat predictable plot points.
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