Journey's End

Synopsis

Set in the First World War, Journey's End concerns the lives of a group of British officers on the front line and opens in a dugout in the trenches of France. Raleigh, a new eighteen-year-old officer fresh out of English public school, joins the besieged company of his friend and cricketing hero Stanhope, and finds him dramatically changed...

Our Review:

Karen Bussell - 22 March 2011

David Grindley’s award-winning production of the classic Journey’s End is an atmospheric and absorbing account of a few days in the rat-infested trenches in 1918 St Quentin, Aisne.

Based on playwright RC Sherriff’s own First World War experiences, this is quite an eye-opener.

Acclaimed as an accurate portrayal of life in the dug-outs, Journey’s End opened in 1928, starring a young [Laurence Olivier, to sell-out houses of those for whom the war and its effects were still in recent memory. It went on to spawn many productions and a film, and inspired writers including Noel Coward.

For Grindley’s tour, Jonathan Fensom’s set is a realistic gloomy dug-out used by the officers for living, eating, existing, sleeping and planning. Sharing the space and the duties are the wise Uncle (Dominic Mafham), the jolly Trotter (Christian Patterson) and the would-be deserter, the petrified Hibbert (Simon Harrison).

Captain Stanhope (a sensitive perfor...

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