Accrington Pals

NOMADS’s timely choice of play Accrington Pals tells how the adventurous lads from a small town outshone other British men in their willingness to volunteer for active service in the First World War,  The general enthusiasm of untrained men at that time reached such a fever pitch that 2,300,000 volunteered instead of the anticipated 500,000.  The bravery that manifested in these ordinary folk was later offset by the tragedy when the majority were lost on the Somme.  But Peter Whelan’s play deals less with the heroics and more with the struggles of womenfolk left at home.

The range and variation of characters is such as to give the actors and director many possibilities with the play’s interpretation.  It is necessary, however, to give some cohesion to the whole and the relationships between May and Eva and May and Tom are vital to its success.

The composite setting depicted May’s market stall, May’s kitchen , Sarah’s back yard and, across the back, a WW1 trench. All very authentic looking.

In reflecting the life of the town the opening scenes should have involved more activity.  I did not feel full use was made of the scene where May and Tom were getting ready for the day’s business.  More use could also have been made of the market stall itself which would have made these scenes less static. Better placing of the chairs round the kitchen table would have negated the necessity for May to talk upstage.  The scene in the trench on the Western Front, offers the opportunity to create some real atmosphere and tension so I was disappointed that when the men “went over the top” they came down through the audience which didn’t give credence to the fact they were moving directly into gunfire and certain death.  Conversely, I thought the ‘ghost’ scene was handled well.

Performances early in the week were, in some cases, suffering from shaky dialogue.  However, I thought that once Vicky McCormick as May got into her stride she made a very good job of the role. Sarah Hartley gave a strong performance as Eva with just the right touch of spirit and there was an excellent performance from Vicky Ward as Sarah who had good support from Jenny Nolan as Bertha.

We saw a nicely handled performance from Andy McGowan as Tom Hackford although I was not entirely happy with the development of the relationship between him and May, but both he and James Bradfield as the likeable Ralph did well conveying the enthusiasm which young men at that time had for enlisting. 

An interesting character is CSM Rivers here ably played by David Worthington.  This character acts as a “father figure” and certainly fancies his chances with May.  However, he also acts as a comment upon the war and its effects and I do not feel this was sufficiently drawn out. 

Kris Camden as Arthur Boggis came over well initially but faded a bit later on.  His poor benighted son Reggie (Alex Armstrong) who spent his time trying to escape the wrath of mother Annie (Alison Worthington) did seem rather unconnected with Arthur.  However, I suspect that may have been in the writing although I could have done without the pigeon carrier glued to his hand the whole time.

All the characters in this play have feelings and emotions which need to come through to make it effective and in this regard I think director Sandra King’s production may have slightly missed the mark.

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