NOT ABOUT HEROES. To 18 November.

London

NOT ABOUT HEROES
by Stephen Macdonald

Trafalgar Studios (Studio 2) To 18 November 2006
Mon-Sat 7.445pm Mat Sat 3pm
Runs 2hr 5min One interval

TICKETS: 0870 060 6632
Review: Amanda Hodges 16 November

Great friendship, great poetry, but a more prosaic production.
Appropriately staged during the Remembrance season, nearly ninety years since the First World War shuddered to a halt in 1918, Stephen Macdonald' s two-hander about the evolution of a poetic friendship carries as much resonance as it did on its first appearance twenty years ago, despite disappointing elements in Caroline Clegg's production for Feelgood Theatre.

When Wilfred Owen first meets his hero Siegfried Sassoon in the confines of Craiglockhart war hospital in 1917 there's little indication this will mark a turning point in Owen's brief life. Igniting his poetic ambition - the period produced some of the greatest poems to have emerged from the field of conflict.

Sassoon is an officer whose conspicuous gallantry has not deterred him from flouting convention, eschewing military honours in favour of the outspoken protest that brings him to Craiglockhart. Here he meets the younger Owen, who's questioning his own nerve, and the stage is, quite literally, set for a seminal meeting of minds.

The relationship was deeply affectionate and pivotal for both men. Its exact nature is open to reasonable conjecture although this production clearly suggests the possibility of a latent love affair.

A simple set places Sassoon's study against the stark backdrop of a trench snarled with barbed wire, the ubiquitous presence of war's influence seeping into every scene. At first the guarded Sassoon is wary of Owen, but he swiftly realises the other's innate poetic gifts, becoming both mentor and friend.

Dan Willis persuasively captures Owen's progress from initial apprehension to growing confidence but the frustration of this production is that whilst the words of both poets speak with as much clarity as when first composed, the same cannot be said for the actors' performances. These feel overheated, insufficiently subtle - recitation of such memorable poetry does capture what Owen called 'the pity of war' but lacks the depth and emotional nuance to fully engage.

At the play’s end, archive footage carries all the poignant force that the production itself just misses and Owen's plaintive words in his Anthem For Doomed Youth: “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?” ring out clear as ever.

Wilfred Owen: Dan Willis
Siegfried Sassoon: Philip Buck

Director: Caroline Clegg
Designer: Allison Clarke
Lighting/Sound: Ben Riding

2006-11-18 00:50:31