Not About Heroes – The Lion and the Unicorn, Giant Olive Theatre, London
Writer: Stephen MacDonald
Director: Alex Brown
Reviewer: Carmel Doohan
The Public Reviews Rating: 
We begin with a painfully forced interaction between Mark Oosterveen as Wilfred Owen and Oliver Powell as Siegfried Sassoon. The acting is stiff, but it needs to be; the men must be constantly on guard so as not to break down entirely as the horrors of the First World War surround them. As they say their goodbyes, both are attempting to cover up an enormous amount of feeling and failing in a spectacularly awkward way.
Stephen MacDonald’s play is about the poets meeting that precedes this scene. Their dialogue is laced with beautiful and familiar poetry- sometimes their words are stuttered and sometimes they come out wrong, for we are getting a glimpse of these famous poems as works-in-progress. Convalescing in the no-mans land of Craiglockhart Hospital ‘Dottie-ville’ they try to balance the horror of what they know with the ways they have been taught express themselves. Their slips from formal to intimate are tender and their school boyish humor is powerfully undercut by flashes of insight. They confront death, betrayal and anguish by battling alliteration and stanza structure.
This is fascinating stuff- these are Sassoon’s real edits of Owen’s poems and their real letters home- but in many ways it would have worked better as a radio play. There is little action on stage, the lighting and sound are unimaginative and it is the actors voices that do all the work. Yet even when let down by mediocre design, this is a great piece of writing; trapped by the constraints of English manners, the poets are shown stumbling around assumptions of courage, honesty and love while MacDonald skilfully builds meaning into the words they leave unsaid.
Runs until 3rd December
Tags: Camden, First World War, Giant Olive Theatre, Lion and Unicorn, Mark Oosterveen, Not About Heroes, Oliver Powell, Poetry, Siegfried Sassoon, Spartan Dog, Stephen MacDonald, Wilfred Owen
3:51 pm on November 27th, 2011
This is a fascinating production, with the war theme so timely as we remember our war dead. Brilliant dialogue and acting – thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended.
You are quickly drawn into this play by the polished performances of Oliver Powell and Mark Oosterveen. The interpretation of the relationship between the two poets is skillfully presented, particularly Powell’s transformation of Owen from a shy unknown into a confident poet who is now seen as one of Britain’s best wartime poets. Oosterveen very ably breaks down Sassoon’s barriers as he befriends and then mentors Owen, then suffers the loss of his friend. The second act was utterly engrossing as the story moves to its climax, paced well, presented intimately and brilliantly lit for great effect.