Journey’s End – Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford

Writer: R C Sherriff

Director : Alastair Whatley

Reviewer: Susan Locke

The Public Reviews Rating:

Seen by many as an anti-war play this apparently was not Sherriff’s intent: to quote his autobiography his characters were “Simple, unquestioning men who fought the war because it was the right and proper thing to do…it was a play in which not a word was against the war and no word of condemnation uttered” However, to view it one can only think of the sheer futility of war and the waste of young life then and now.

This joint production by The Original Theatre Company and Icarus Theatre Collective is set in a First World War dugout only yards from the Front Line. The much-admired Captain Stanhope (Christopher Harper), war-weary and overly fond of the whisky bottle awaits a new young officer sent straight from training school. The young man, Raleigh (Tom Hackney), turns out to be an old school pal of Stanhope’s who idolised the older boy at school and who has pulled a lot of strings to get in the same company as him. Stanhope confides in his older, avuncular second-in-command Osborne (Graham Seed) that he is concerned that Raleigh will find his hero a changed man. The story unfolds through the next few days as they wait the inevitable German attack, a wait that is as boring as it is terrifying.

The direction by Alastair Whatley is taut and the claustrophobic set by Victoria Spearing is well lit by Alan Valentine.

Great performances by Christopher Harper as the damaged Stanhope and Graham Seed as the older Osborne who finds comfort in dreaming of his garden and reading Alice in Wonderland are well-supported by Gareth Davis as the down to earth fellow officer Trotter who appears to get through the war by a lack of imagination. Also worthy of mention is Adam Best’s Mason who plays the officer’s cook who instills a little humour into the proceedings whilst serving up nearly inedible food and drink.

A super production that left many of the audience deep in thought and not just a little tearful. Recommended