Review-For King and Country
March 19, 2009
Date Reviewed: 18th March, 2009
Venue: Theatre Royal , Newcastle
For King and Country, a play by John Wilson, tackles how soldiers were treated if they apparently deserted the Army during the First World War, they usually had one outcome, a firing squad.
This production of the play is presented by The Touring Partnership in association with the Theatre Royal, Newcastle and contains some excellent performances , especially Adam Gillen as Private Arthur Hamp, but never feels as if it gets out of first gear.
We first meet Hamp, excellently play by Adam Gillen, as he is interviewed about exactly how he came to desert his post. It is apparent that he is a troubled young man, but he needs to explain his motives for desertion, if not the Court Marshal will lead to the death penalty.
The action, as it is, moves to the Court Marshal itself, after a swift and effect scene change. Here we find the President of the Court (played by David Yelland) trying to be as objective as possible as the case against the Private is heard.
Tim Shortalls, who was responsible for both set and costume design , allows the centre of the set to change swiftly and silently, taking us from the battle fields to the Court Marshal and back in seconds. Although the projections of the trees that greet you when entering the auditorium add nothing to the proceedings.
After another short scene change, we find ourselves awaiting the decision of the Court Marshall, yet we really already know what their findings will be. Once the decision is made we follow the final few hours of the Private, from the communion given by the Padre and the medication to allowing him to sleep, to the moment he is marched off to the firing squad.
While this play is thought provoking and thankfully brief at a mere ninety minutes, without an interval, I failed to understand how there is an audience for this type of play today. The subject matter is tried and tested and Director Tristram Powell certainly gets the most from his cast but the material gives him nothing new to work with. It is well documented that soldiers may have been incorrectly executed for apparent desertion and as shocking as that fact is, this play does nothing further to get that message across and I found that did not really care what happened to Hamp, as long as it happened quickly.
John Dixon
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