When The Wind Blows

The stage play “When The Wind Blows” is adapted from Raymond Briggs’ graphic anti-nuclear parable of the same name and is set during the 1980’s and the Cold War. With the threat of nuclear war and the help of leaflets issued by the Government they set about getting prepared for a possible attack on the UK.

With the same enthusiasm, cheerfulness and solidarity that helped them through the last war,Jim and Hilda Bloggs set about bomb-proofing their rural home. Placing doors against walls, organising food and reminiscing about how they coped during the blitz 40 years ago, why shouldn’t they survive this one?

With back-projection of some amazing imagery, sound and music effects, we see the beautiful and peaceful village where Jim and Hilda live, the build-up to the bomb being dropped and the ensuing devastation.

Roger Hazelwood (Jim) and Trish Lister (Hilda) gave very professional and amazing performances throughout the play with clear diction and copious amounts of dialogue.Constantly on the move, Hilda does the household chores and gets the rations of food prepared while Jim is building up the shelters. At the same time they chat to each other, with lots of banter and great humour and it’s obvious they are very comfortable in each other’s company, not only within their characters but also as actors.

As time progresses, we see the devastation to their home and county. Jim and Hilda survive the bombing, and with true British grit start to clean up and trust that the Government will send help. However, what they don’t realise is that everything has been destroyed and that radiation sickness will eventually take them. In the final scene, we see Jim and Hilda on the sofa with their arms wrapped lovingly around each other and saying a prayer. The back projection and sound effects of “The Wind” emphasizes the effects of the bomb. A very moving piece of drama.

Not a sound could be heard in the auditorium, and you could have heard a pin drop. I’m sure that some within the audience had a tear in their eyes. I also noticed that during the whole evening the atmosphere coming from the stage matched that within the audience.

As directors and producers, Richard Wilshaw and Mark Oakley must be congratulated for this first-class production. A play with a potentially realistic situation is not always easy to do, however, the performance of the actors, stage direction, back-projection, sound and set design, and the concept of the complete production fitted together perfectly. A great deal of hard work and rehearsal time had gone into making this play what it was - a great production.

I’d not seen this play before but am now so pleased I have. Thank you for the invite and the hospitability.

NODA N.E.

Sue Cox

Drama Rep – Reg 14

 

 

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