Writer: D H Lawrence
Adaptor: Ben Mills-Wood
Director: Simon Ravenhill
It was a relief to get out into daylight and fresh air at the end of 45 minutes in the company of The Prussian Officer, but that is a compliment to the dark and claustrophobic world created by this production by Blue Orange Arts. Lawrence’s short story, written in 1914, examines the relationship between a young orderly and his captain. Thrown together in the pressure cooker of military preparations, initial wariness turns into a dangerous obsession on the part of the officer. The younger man has a life outside, and a girlfriend, and just wants to bide his time until he can return, but this seems to both attract and provoke the officer, increasing his desire to exert ever tighter control.
There are poetry books on the captain’s desk, but the orderly is mocked for writing a poem down for his girlfriend; brief snatches of traditional songs and references to the natural world fail to lift the threatening atmosphere. Violence, when it erupts, is brutal, and played with compelling physicality by the two actors, Ben Mills-Wood (as the officer, also writer of this adaptation) and Giles Whorton (the orderly). It’s difficult to feel any sympathy for the predatory officer, brutalised as he is by the military life. The young orderly, however, is trapped in a situation that he cannot escape without risking everything, and Giles Whorton’s performance is nuanced and very moving. The simple set focuses the emotional turmoil within its walls, and sound effects occasionally remind us of the world outside.
A chilling study of lives colliding and authority abused.
Runs until 19 August 2026 | Image: Contributed
