SOCIETY, GROUP OR TEAM: Moulton Drama Group - MDG

www.mdg.org.uk

Oh, What a Lovely War - Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop

PLAY
A clever piece of theatre which manages to put forward a harrowing message in an entertaining way, thereby making that message all the more telling. It could do with a better dramatic shape - it merely peters out at the end, for example, rather than giving us a dramatic climax - but is certainly capable of offering a splendid evening's entertainment in good hands; this means having actors who can also dance and sing and move well.

STAGE PRESENTATION
(Setting, Costumes, Properties. Make-up, Lighting, Effects)
You are to be congratulated heartily on the transformation of your premises. It was obvious that there was a very imaginative mind at work, and the whole atmosphere was warm and welcoming. How different it would have been had you used the strip lighting! The decorations on the walls, the coloured bulbs, the strolling pierrots, all built up an air of expectation. The "fairground organ" music also helped, though here I felt that music more in period might have been better. I appreciate that you were establishing a difference in time between your performance and 1914-18, but I still feel that songs like "Happy Talk" could have been improved upon. The programme, too, was splendid, and amply repaid your trouble. And a delight that does not really come under the heading of Presentation was having one's cup of tea and biscuits not only included in the price, but being served in one's seat.

The platform offered promise for dramatic grouping, and apart from odd shortcomings such as mere paper for an officer's hatband the costumes were adequate. Inconsistencies showed here and there, however; why change all the ladies for the Pankhurst sequence when the general idea was to add odd items to the basic costume? Properties had been carefully thought out and were well used, but don't always follow the text if something better comes up. The bayonet training sequence, for example, is invariably improved by using real rifles with bayonets, underlining the basic message of the play of horror treated in
a light-hearted way. Make-up was, rightly when cast are so close to the audience, minimal and unobtrusive, though I do wish one or two of your young men could have been persuaded to have their hair trimmed.

You had a splendid battery of lights to create effects, but in spite of this there were a number of black spots on and around the dais. Cues, however, were always crisp, as they were with the excellent sound effects, and some striking moments were created. It must be said that the slide images could have been more arresting, perhaps by having the M.C. or someone draw attention to them when they changed, or by throwing a larger image, but these, too, were well cued. Additional sound effects at times would have suggested background.

And a special mention for the "orchestra" which contributed so much in such a very professional way, integrating beautifully into the action and helping to create much of an atmosphere.

PRODUCTION
(Pace, Grouping, Movement, Team-work, Interpretation)
Although the Production had quite a lot going for it, as they say, it must be said that it didn't live up to the promise of the Presentation.

On the plus side was the clever use of all the Hall, each entrance being utilised to vary the dramatic focus, and there was no doubt that each member of the cast was au fait with the idea behind the show. There is no doubt, either, that your audience thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and this is always the main consideration. How, then, might it have been even better?

I think, first of all, that it needed much more punch. If you have ever been to a concert party, then you will have noticed, that the.: main ingredient is sheer exuberance, however artificial that exuberance may be. Thus I was a little suspicious when I was greeted by that rather laid-back cast, certainly greeting the audience politely and developing an atmosphere of friendliness, but lacking the sheer fun and good humour to get us in the mood. How much better if, at this stage, your M.C. had been up on stage cracking a long line of jokes, like the warm-up comic for a TV show! And then, although starting the proceedings with a sing-song of old favourites was a good idea, it needed organisation; we needed something of a bang (perhaps one of those excellent effects) to arrest our attention and start crisply, rather than slide somewhat untidily into the opening.

Nevertheless, your audience responded quite well, and could have been manipulated to respond even more had the show moved with greater pace, one item moving seamlessly into the next with no gaps. But too often characters waited for their cue before making an entrance, and nothing happened in the spaces between verses 4 songs. Grouping, too, could have been improved so often in that promising setting; "We don't want to lose you" could have been much more pointed, but became a jumble of figures; the soldiers digging the trenches could have been arranged so that the two lines were facing outwards; the important speeches to establish character in the ball scene were thrown away; the line "in West Ham alone" was lost because of cast making their exits, etc., etc., etc We really did lose much of the impact because artistic arrangement was at a premium.

" Movement", here, of course, means choreography, and what can one say when groups of four. men, or four women, can't even keep in step? This sort of thing just has to be synchronised, or it demonstrates the worst aspects of the amateur stage. But it isn't merely being in step, of course: it is the position of hands, the stance of the body, the pointing of the feet which all need attention if one is to achieve polish.

It was such a pity, too, that you allowed elementary errors to creep in. Why, in the "Silent Night" sequence, allow one of the soldiers to say "It's coming from over there" and indicate the very entrance from which the song was not coming? Why use the names of the ladies of the cast of the original production in the ballroom scene when your ladies have perfectly good names of their own (to use "The Honorable Barbara Windsor" was simply asking for trouble)? And do beware of following the directions in the script too religiously; you must always assess the effect they are to have on your own ground. Thus, although it is indicated that the two parties sing different words to the same tune in the church service, unless one of the parties is allowed to dominate, all we have is a jumble of words which are difficult to identify.

Certainly there were moments to treasure: the death of the Irish soldiers was striking; "Susie's shirts" had panache; the beginning of the meeting in no-man's land arrested the attention; the birds in the grouse-shooting scene were an amusing innovation; the poppies at the end a moving touch; "When this lousy war is over" a beautiful moment, and so on. Which makes one think that with more attention to detail throughout the whole production could have attained a higher, and more consistent, standard.

ACTING
Clearly it is going to be impossible for me to identify members of the cast by name, but I'll do my best.
As always, especially with such a large cast, the standard of performance varied, but on the whole a pleasing confidence was displayed. If I can make a general recommendation it is that many of you are getting rid of your lines far too quickly to make effect, and few of you have had the sort of training in diction to make those lines clear. Practice in studying how comedians deliver punch-lines would also be of benefit.

I felt that you were a good-looking cast, making a pleasing early impression on the audience. It's always hard succeeding with people who know you in everyday life, but that means you have to work so much harder. Take one of the funniest sequences, the bayonet practice. This needs model timing to succeed, each piece of comic business being pointed carefully before you go on to the next. Even the Sergeant's speech, unintelligible as it might be for the most part, needs very careful orchestrating to make a good impact. In short, it needs as much choreography as a production number.

Try to establish the fact of who you are at all times - here, for example, when you are a member of the pierrot team as opposed to being a character. Thus if you come on throwing three balls in the air (which was very well done), don't forget to keep smiling, or your audience will think you are going to drop them, too. If you are a military type, then be military; don't salute if you aren't wearing a hat (this isn't the U.S. Army), and if you are sending up the military quality, establish it basically before you add the satire.

Individually there was much promise. I felt the M.C. needed greater slickness and an ability to ad lib to good effect, but was very convincing in a number of the other parts he played. I think he and French should have been cast the other way round to establish the right sort of visual superiority through rank; this casting also led to confusion when the actor playing French became the British General and thus subservient to Haig.

The young man who played the Stallholder was also successful in a number of parts, but do avoid fiddling with your clothing and standing with you:, hands behind your back unless it is called for. As the Stallholder, too, you needed to take a much greater interest in what the other two were trying to say in that scene.

In trying to capture a sort of sly delivery, the young lady who gave us "Kibosh on the Kaiser" developed a very repetitive cadence which rendered all her lines very similar. A more animated series of facial expressions would have helped, too, to give more point to a pleasing vocal delivery in basic quality.

There were some good moments in the grouse-shooting scene; this is a potential bore, but was lively here. Accents were splendid and on the whole the comedy was well-pointed. The actor playing the Englishman displayed an exemplary vocal delivery both here and as Haig (though a touch of the Ghillie's Scots in the latter role would have given it a good flavour). French, too, had an excellent speaking voice; some trouble with the long "A", however, and he looked too young for a man who was 62 when the war broke out.

The sergeants achieved much of the comedy. Be careful over that diction, especially if you have to adopt an accent, but clearly the traditional manner of the backbone of the British Army is one which you have clasped to your bosoms to good effect.

The girls were quite lively and showed the sort of participation which would have benefited from a strong choreographer. "I'll make a Man of You'• was a case in point. The lady singing the solo made a good job of it, capturing the seductive quality of the lines well; but she had to stand and wait for the music rather than have movement to fill in, and the backing quartet needed to work harder for synchronisation.

So there we are. A lively, promising cast who still, however, have things to learn. Remember particularly that when you are performing in an arena setting and so close to the audience attention to detail and total absorption in your performance is vital. And I do recommend to all that you spend some of those quieter times between shows in getting hold of a speech teacher and working on diction and projection.

Which all sounds like a lot of criticism, but the whole purpose of a report like this is to be constructive and to urge you on to do better. So I hope you take it in the right spirit and build on the sound foundations you have already laid down.
Thank you again for the warm welcome you extended to my wife and myself .

John Fox, 198