One of the most critically acclaimed books of recent years, Sebatian Faulk’s novel Birdsong was adapted first onto the big screen in 2012 and then onto the stage in 2013.
Original Theatre now presents a new production of the harrowing tale live at the Playhouse for four nights only.
The story centres on the character of Englishman Stephen Wraysford, who in his early adulthood entered into an affair with a married French woman, Isabelle. The first Act of the play focuses solely on this aspect of the novel, and we see the unhappy life that newlywed Isabelle is facing, with a husband who is cruel to her and to the staff he employs at his factory, the very factory that Stephen has been sent to investigate.
Act Two fast forwards six years into the future, where Stephen is an officer on the Western Front and has been serving in the trenches for two years. We learn how Isabelle had abruptly left him one night shortly after their affair had started, leaving him still pining now for his love and with little motivation to survive.
The play then unfolds into many connecting stories, focusing heavily on the ordinary soldiers at the front with Stephens, in particular Jack Firebrace, a miner assigned with the task of digging tunnels under the German trenches. In the final Act (yes, there are two intervals!) we see the stories join together and how future lives are still being affected by the events of this most horrendous of wars.
It is difficult to review this production as it is very much a play of two halves. The second half, set in WW1, is powerful, poignant and distressing. The acting from the whole cast was impressive and the rich baritone voices heard in the eerie acapella singing were utterly spellbinding.
Max Bowden, who until recently played Ben Mitchell in Eastenders, gives a show-stealing performance in the role of Jack Firecracker. He was able to show the character’s honesty, determination, loyalty and grief in a way that was both believable and utterly heartbreaking. The friendships shown amongst all of the soldiers was genuine and bitter-sweet.
Another particularly impressive performance was that of Raif Clarke, who performed the young teenage boy Tipper, newly arrived in the trenches just before the Battle of the Somme commenced. Clarke’s complete absorption into the role convincingly portrayed his character’s mental breakdown and innocent naivety, bringing to light the utter wastage and disregard for life this war created, none more so than on the disastrous first day of the Battle of the Somme when 19,240 men died. This hit a personal note for me as my paternal grandfather, was there at the Battle of the Somme, having also lied about his age. He was one of the ‘fortunate’ ones who was injured out, but for whom the effects of the war created a shadow on his future life, one he very rarely spoke of, according to my father.
The lighting, shadows and deep thudding of the base to create the horrors of bombs dropping and constant gun fire allowed us to gain an brief idea of the constant attack on the senses that these men must have felt, living in the trenches month after month. The simply, multifunctional set created a sense of the claustrophobia of being in the mining tunnels and the haunting original pre-recorded music created a soundscape of tension, contrasting beautifully with the moments of live, softly sung voices with rich harmonies.
Unfortunately, the First Act simply didn’t match the power of the Second. The story of how Isabelle and Stephen met was slow and the romance was unbelievable, with little connection between the two characters and the acting feeling stagnant. The (highly graphic!) sex scene seemed to be included as a shock tactic to wake the audience up before the interval and give them something to talk about. The nudity also wasn’t particularly needed: I don’t have a problem with it on the stage as a concept, but it added nothing to the story. It didn’t particularly fit with the characters and felt like an attempt to liven up what they must have known was a poor, awkwardly written and directed Act One.
This first Act could have been told in less that half the time, and with the play being 3 hours long it definitely needed some cutting down!
I mentioned earlier – please be aware that there are two intervals, the second taking place around 9.40pm: I hadn’t realised at the time and myself and most of the audience were extremely confused over whether it was meant to be the end or not.
If you don’t mind a late evening and are prepared to be utterly heartbroken (and go through quite a few tissues) then the second half of the play is outstanding enough to make up for the inadequacies of the first.
As Max Bowden explained in his interview, published by Leeds Living in August, ‘thematically, it’s as pertinent as it’s ever been’ as we are ‘living in a more divided society, in a world of conflict’. People described it as the war to end all wars, but not only was this proven to be untrue only 21 years later with the outbreak of WW2, but even today areas of the world, and even areas of Europe, are being torn apart by the futility of war.
Productions like this act as a learning tool, advising us that consequences of conflict can last generations and how all life should be perceived as precious, so it’s important that we support them so that the next generation can learn this lesson, too.
Birdsong is at Leeds Playhouse until 21 September. Tickets here.
Photography by Pamela Raith. Main image: Max Bowden as Jack Firebrace
