Tag Archives: World War I

Composer: Kevin Puts Libretto: Mark Campbell Conductor: Nicholas Kok Director: Tim Albery Reviewer: Ron Simpson Opera North has established a tradition in recent years of so-called “concert” or “semi-staged” performances in Leeds Town Hall that often have a more emotional impact than fully staged productions. This is certainly the case with Tim Albery’s magnificent production of Kevin Puts’ remarkable first ...

Writer: John Gray with Eric Peterson Director: Jimmy Walters Reviewer: Scott Matthewman Of all the plays being revived to mark the centenary of the World War I Armistice, a not unsurprising number have focussed on the lives of soldiers in the trenches. But April 1918also saw the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force: so Jermyn Street ...

Writer: Oliver Lansley Directors: Oliver Lansley and James Seager Reviewer: Scott Matthewman As the centenary of the Armistice approaches, it feels an appropriate time to revive Les Enfants Terribles’ 2012 show The Trench, set in the muddy battlefields of World War I – and far below them. Lansley’s script takes the form of an epic poem: the combination of battle ...

Writer: John Wilson Director: Paul Tomlinson Reviewer: Scott Matthewman As we approach the centenary of the end of World War I, events commemorating the Great War continue. This latest, a revival of John Wilson’s play For King and Country by Dilated Theatre Company, is unusual in that it marks more than anything how the young men on the front could find ...

Writer and director: Tom Stuchfield Reviewer: Scott Matthewman Debuting in the centenary of the end of World War I, Tom Stuchfield’s play Somewhere a Gunner Fires, set in that conflict, has gestated for over ten years, its characters developing as the play was worked and reworked. It certainly shows. The play’s two central characters – Spencer, an English private (played ...

Writer: Sam Sweeney and Hugh Lupton Music: Sam Sweeney and others Reviewer: Audrey Pointer Sam Sweeney, the fiddle player well known for his work with folk band Bellowhead, chanced upon an apparently brand new violin in an Oxford music shop. However, the instrument was something of an enigma. On further inspection, Sam discovered a label inside the violin, bearing the ...