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On Thursday the 9th of November and Friday the 10th of November, St. George's staged its annual school play. This year's delight was Joan Littlewood's musical entertainment "Oh What a Lovely War" by Theatre Workshop, Charles Chilton, Gerry Raffles and Members of the Original Cast, produced by Kathryn Beckett and Peter Onslow. For those of you unable to attend the performance here is a brief background to the play itself, to our production and a synopsis of the action. Background to "Oh What a Lovely War" In 1958, Charles Chilton was on holiday in France in order to photograph the grave of his father who had been killed in 1918 in the Arras area. He had no idea there were so many soldiers' cemeteries around Arras. When he at last discovered his father's official memorial it was to find that he had no grave. Instead, his name was inscribed upon the wall alongside with those of "35,942 officers and men of the Forces of the British Empire who fell in the battle of Arras and who have no known graves". What could possibly have happened to a man so as to render his burial impossible? What horror could have taken place so as to render the burial of 35,942 men impossible, and all in one relatively small area? Charles Chilton's search for the answer to this question finally led to "Oh what a lovely War" in the sincere hope that such an epitaph would never have to be written upon any man's memorial again. Gerry Raffles: "When I heard the 1914/18 soldiers' songs on Charles Chilton's radio programme the soldiers seemed to come alive again and I was left wondering how many of the men who wrote the songs had lived through to see the peace. We thought that if we could present these songs on our stage it might bring home to the young people of today that war as it is lived is not the thing of glory that it is often presented as being. At different times we commissioned four writers to write us a play around the songs but none of their efforts were satisfactory. Finally, between Joan Littlewood, the producer, and the Theatre Workshop company of actors, on the basis of the songs found by Charles Chilton and research into the documentary records of the war by everyone concerned, a script was improvised and built up. Everything in the show is as true as we can make it. The facts and figures which we could not incorporate into the dialogue, we send across the stage on a news panel of lights. We are sure the success of the show and the profound effect it has on audiences is not so much a tribute to us but because the show carries the aura of truth: the applause is for the men whose lives were thrown away for nothing. As The Scotsman (newspaper) said, this is a show with 10 million heroes". Our Production I have twice been involved in the production of "Oh What a Lovely War" in schools in the past and its powerful and moving message has touched all involved. A few scripts of the show were lying in the music room with some of my other personal music items and one or two boys dipped into them from time to time. They asked if we could do this show but, although I knew it could be effectively produced by schools, I expressed some doubts, bearing in mind that St. George's has a majority of girls and the show was more orientated towards boys. However, some months later, when it came to making a commitment for a show in November and, having seen some excellent performances in the House Play Competition, we gathered together a potential cast at the beginning of Summer Term 2006, particularly looking at whether a viable chorus of older boys could be assembled. We decided to go ahead and to face the challenges of this demanding play. Rehearsals, unusually, began in May and the show was eventually cast, the many roles being divided between the actors. We met briefly once a week throughout the remainder of the Summer Term and began rehearsals in earnest as soon as the new school year began in September. Our production is the result of many hours of intensive rehearsal. This is a small sacrifice of our time compared with the monumental sacrifices made in the past. We present this show as a tribute to the millions who have lost their lives in war and conflict and to this day, continue to do so. Peter Onslow
Synopsis Much of the action takes place as a pier show in the year 1914, hence the basic pierrot costumes of the actors. After the opening number by the full chorus, the various significant countries at the outbreak of the First World War are presented as a circus parade. The main characters in this scene are Britain, France, Russia and Germany (the Kaiser and Moltke). This is followed by a representation of Sarajevo and the townspeople taking a stroll in the square. A shot rings out, signifying the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and the Archduchess. A bizarre conversation between 2 secret service agents highlights the state of chaos created by this event. The next scene, beginning with newspaper-sellers announcing the declaration of war between Serbia and Austria and the mobilisation of Russia, shows the descent into world war as the Kaiser tries to reverse the plans. This is followed by scenes of recruitment into the armed forces and a futile French cavalry charge into machine-gun fire. The mood of the show lightens with a humorous look at the teaching of bayonet practice, although the satirical tone is never far away. We then see a conference between the allied generals, with its painful lack of communication, followed by the arrival of the first wounded at Waterloo Station, London. The song "Hitchy-Koo" that follows shows how society life continued while, in the next scene, the troops at the Front faced their first Christmas in the trenches which culminated in the no-mans-land meeting of the British and German combatants. Act One ends poignantly with the song "Goodbye-ee". After the opening number of Act Two, a song accompanied by a series of photographic images depicts the horrific effectiveness of shell and gas attacks and the next scene shows how the soldiers became inured to conditions in the Front Line. The action then switches to an officers' ball in which we see that the generals were more concerned with their own advancement and trivia than the realities of the Front. Much of the remainder of Act Two comprises General Haig's continuing war of attrition, interspersed by a street-corner speech by Emmeline Pankhurst (suffragette movement); short conversations between British and German housewives to illustrate the effect of propaganda; and a humourous field service which culminates in the moving song "Keep the Home Fires Burning", sung by the nurse. The finale of the show begins with a mirror image of the French cavalry charge in Act One followed by the poignant final songs. The caption near the end reads "The war to end wars". It clearly did not. All the songs from the show are originally from the period of the Great War, sometimes with texts adapted by Charles Chilton. Peter Onslow
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Producers Kathryn Beckett & Peter Onslow
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The Cast Many of the small and large roles are played by members of the Pierrot chorus: Alex Barrios, Robin Cowie, Laura Nixon, Adam Hutton, Janelle Paquin, Edward Langelier, Allison Schmidt, Jethro Lawrence, Megan Stark, Dylan Pilarski, Amanda Steinson, Patrick Scully, Libby Urquhart Ducharme, Bard Stark, Amelia White, Alex Urquhart Ducharme. Additional roles are played by: E J Batilando, Jessica Dowling, Loes Koopmans, Brita Midness, Marie Aurelia Clarke, Maarten Nieuwhuis, Olivia Perrin, Cara Salmon and Ruan Roux. Master of
Ceremonies: Jan Hill The Band Flute: Sarah Heath Production Team Stage
Manager: Victoria Di Napoli
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