Journey's End

‘Journey’s End’ is a challenging play with limited physical action, and which therefore relies on strong characterisation skills from the actors: SNADS rose to the challenge manfully in this moving and sensitive production.  

As the houselights dimmed we found ourselves in an authentically-recreated dugout, cleverly lit as if by candlelight and not over-lit by electricity. It was impossible not to be moved by the voice-over singing of ‘Only Remembered’, and as the departing Hardy announced that the German attack was expected any day, the ominous tone was set not on stage, but in the minds of the audience.  

All parts were played well, with good performances from the youngest players as squaddies from either side. Osborne’s performance was entirely convincing as a man of more mature years, an ex-schoolmaster and rugby-player, who has volunteered ‘to do his bit’.  He held the stage for much of the play, bringing a natural quality to the character, behaving as ‘Uncle’ to the younger men, listening and responding in a kindly manner, until finally preparing to meet his own death in a calm and perhaps resigned manner.  Stanhope was as irritable and tense as a battle-weary young officer should be, shouldering his responsibility with barely a break, frustrated at the battle-plan, increasingly dependent on alcohol and afraid that his family and girlfriend will discover his weakness.  He very clearly conveyed the officer’s being under no illusion about the hopelessness of the situation, and his professional encouragement of the younger men.  The Colonel was also played in a most natural style, with the voice, stance and manner exactly right, adopting a reasonable and persuasive tone which commanded respect, but which he then loses as he unfeelingly confiscates the letters of the German prisoner.  Trotter came across as an affable, cheerful fellow; working hard and eating to suppress his fear, he lifted the mood as he entered the stage. The young cook, Mason, had a matter-of-fact air, bringing a sense of normality and of getting on with the job, both as he brought tea and when sent into battle - a shining example of the bravery of the common man. Hibbert is a difficult character to play, but here we were shown a man unmanned by fear, desperate to run, who nonetheless faces the enemy and death with his comrades.  Raleigh was completely the eager young officer, fresh from school, bursting with hero-worship for Stanhope and blissfully ignorant of the horrors of war, until we saw him shaken at the death of Osborne, then shattered by a shell, when we really felt the sense of despair, as the light and hope of youth was extinguished.  

Changes in mood were evident throughout the production, varying from the tedium of life in the dugout, to the tension as military events are planned and unfold, particularly when Osborne and Raleigh prepare for the raid; as Mason and Hibbert go above; and as Stanhope is commanded into battle. With a strong, well-paced conclusion, this was a truly moving production.

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