Writer: Sebastian Faulks
Adaptor: Rachel Wagstaff
Director: Alastair Whatley
The original novel Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks was published thirty years ago and a successful film adaptation starring Eddie Redmayne came out in 2012. The stage version first saw the light of day in 2013 and has undergone a number of transformations since, until this present production has built on all that has gone before it and is a brand new beast. It portrays powerfully and emotionally the horrors of the First World War amidst a very passionate and dangerous love affair between Stephen Wraysford (James Esler making his professional stage debut) and Isabelle Adair (Charlie Russell), the young wife trapped in a loveless marriage to the local factory owner René (Sargon Yelda). Their relationship is portrayed very graphically in the love making scene that leaves little to the imagination and may cause a few eyebrows to be raised.
The production has a number of things going for it. Its depiction of the Somme and the experiences of the fighting men is very realistic and vivid, so much so that this reviewer jumped on more than one occasion when loud explosions (very loud) were heard. You have been warned. It is all very earnest and heartfelt, with the entire company working tremendously hard to portray the world of pre-war France and beyond, and the overall effect is realistic and commendable. The atmosphere is achieved with the help of a fairly simple yet effective stage and set design (Richard Kent), whilst the more complicated changes (for example, the transformation from the Azaire residence to the trenches) being set up during an interval.
The three main roles of Wraysford and Isabelle, along with Max Bowden as Jack Firebrace, the experienced tunneler, are all accomplished and assured, although even these three as well as the cast in general occasionally let their dialogue slip resulting in vital pieces of the plot being lost. This may have been opening night nerves and did, unfortunately, mar the overall performance. Of the minor roles James Findlay (Brennan) is worth mentioning for his super singing voice and musical talents and the vastly experienced Roger Ringrose as the pompous and comical Bérard.
Birdsong will provide passion, excitement, emotion, pathos, sympathy, sorrow and some laughter, and leaves the audience quite drained and exhausted by the end. The tagline reads: there is nothing more than to love and be loved, and the show demonstrates that it is ultimately better to love than hate and that light will always drive out darkness.
Runs until 21 September 2024
