Oh! What a Lovely War

I have seen ‘Oh What a Lovely War’ quite a few times and it has always struck me as a wonderful vehicle for talented directors and casts to create their own interpretation of Joan Littlewoods famous musical show.  

This show is strongly satirical about combat and should make people pause, draw breath and think about the statistics, the drama, the anguish and sorrow of human loss from war. 

 

WODS are never afraid of presenting emotive and even controversial subjects and with ‘Oh! What a Lovely War’ they have  added another excellent notch on their belt. This show was without doubt a team performance. With the stage preset to show all the chairs, baskets of props, clothing, hats and uniforms, it was obvious that the whole show would be presented in full view.  The decorative white fencing delineated the playing area and the band cleverly set behind more fencing to the rear of the action. A large screen showed moments of action and historical pictures of warfare.

The cast together portrayed soldiers, nurses, civilians, and so many more, from many nationalities occasionally using foreign language as if born to it.   The cast all wore black, tee shirts and leggings, and the common factor being  the white face on every cast member, paying tribute to the ‘pierott’ from the ‘Joan Littlewood original end of the pier show’. The score of old and mostly well known songs from the period of the First World War were delivered in fine voice from soloists and company alike and the cast undertook all the scenes with many different characters with talent and understanding and more than a little well received comedy.

The statistics of the loss of life were delivered along with pictures of the war and was received by the audience with audible gasps of astonishment. During the minutes silence you could have heard a pin drop with the audience still and utterly quiet.

But it was not all doom and gloom, after all this was about the war to end all wars! Every gamut of human emotion was present and realistically portrayed, even the black humour was acceptable and gave some light relief from the misery of the war.

Congratulations to the directors on an excellent vision brought to life by the excellent cast. The choreographer used clever controlled movement and choreography to highlight certain scenes and the MD and the band expertly supported the singing. The music was too loud for the voices on occasions but this did little to mar the excellence of the entertainment. 

The tribute to the evening’s performance was the heartfelt but controlled applause by the audience and the deafening silence as the cast left the stage.  This show was a profound and moving tribute, worthy of WODS and worthy of this time of remembrance.

Well done WODS, another success.

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