ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. To 15 November.

Nottingham.

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
by Erich Maria Remarque adapted Robin Kingsland.

Nottingham Playhouse To 18 October then tour to 15 November 2008.
Tue-Sat 7.45pm Mat Wed, Thu 1.30pm Sat 2.30pm.
Post-show Discussion 16 Oct 7.45pm.
Runs 2hr 15min One interval.

TICKETS: 0115 941 9419.
www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk.
Review: Alan Geary: 10 October 2008.

The love, humanity and horror of war. A big improvement on the 2006 production.
Director Giles Croft is good on sets; here he gives us the same metallic two-level linear arrangement he used for the 2006 production. But this is a re-working of that production and in most respects a big improvement.

Extra scenes have been put in by adapter Robin Kingsland, and there’s an injection of stronger actors and much better singing. The battle sound effects are more realistic - at times they’re terrifying. It’s an all male cast this time, which is mostly, but not entirely, for the good.

A major problem is that too many of the scenes where men have to play women generate inappropriate laugher, partly because the actors are still in their field-grey, but mainly because they’re camping, rather than acting, their way out of the problem.

This version still suffers, from a, perhaps inevitable, over-reliance on narrative and the fact that most characters are not sufficiently differentiated. An exception here is old sweat Kat (beautifully done by David Cardy), who isn’t just older than the others but has real individual depth.

It’s a shame that Kingsland’s dialogue is cast in more or less contemporary idiom; the Edwardian version would have been more in keeping with the scene where the comrades demonstrate schoolboy bashfulness at the prospect of grown-up sex, and, of course, would have possessed greater internal logic.

James Alexandrou handles the central role of Baumer well, especially in the scene where he’s in the same shell-hole as the Tommy he’s just killed and, later when Kat dies. And the scenes when Baumer is back home on leave are very telling. You get that alienation between the man who’s experienced the actuality of war and the jingoistic well-meaning civilian.

Like the Erich Maria Remarque novel on which it’s based, this play brings out the genuine love and humanity of war as well as the horror.

Paul Baumer: James Alexandrou.
Stanislaus “Kat” Katczinsky: David Cardy.
Muller: Ryan Early.
Albert Kropp: Ilan Goodman.
Detering: Youssef Kerkour.
Haie Westus: Paul McGreevy:
Tjaden: Simon Sanchez
Joseph Behm: Adam Sopp.

Director: Giles Croft.
Designer: Phil Brunner.
Lighting: Richard G Jones.
Sound/Movement: Matthew Bugg.

2008-10-11 12:14:22