Days of Significance

Synopsis

Written in response to Much Ado About Nothing, Days of Significance is set in market-town England and the deserts of Iraq. Two young soldiers join their friends to binge drink the night before they leave for active service. Their complex love lives and mortal fears directly impact on their tour of duty. Roy Williams looks at how the naive and malformed moral codes of these young men have catastrophic reverberations for the West's moral authority.

Our Review:

Simon Tavener - 28 October 2009

The Royal Shakespeare Company are showing their continued commitment to new writing with their new tour of Roy Williams’ play – written in response to Much Ado about Nothing and contemporary events including the second Gulf conflict. Whilst there is much to admire in the work, I am somewhat in two minds as to whether Days of Significance is quite as significant a play as it could be.

Played without an interval, it is a work clearly in 3 acts. The dialogue starts off attempting to recreate the rhythms and quasi-poetry of street language. The intention is clear but the execution is somewhat less successful. Even with the talented cast giving it their all, the overall effect is rather forced and stilted. As we progress through the play, the writing becomes more fluent, involving and frequently moving – particularly in the middle act set in Basra.

The final act suffers from a couple of moments where characters start delivering unrealistic homilies. This again feels st...

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