Emotionally charged, gritty and heart-warming, Connor Abbot’s direction of Birdsong made an ecstatic first night performance that reduced much of the audience to tears by the end. I am thrilled to report that there has been very little that I can criticise about the production and the ‘very little’ that I can criticise are minor niggles that seem petty in the overall perspective of things.
Sebastian Faulk’s Birdsong primarily tells the story of Stephen Wraysford (Jason Ryall), a Lieutenant in the First World War who reminisces about his lost love Isabelle (Zoe Biles) who he met years before. But also at the heart of the story, is Jack Firebrace (Iain Campbell), a ‘sewer rat’ who spends most of the war in the tunnels digging towards the enemy trench. I won’t go into the major details of both stories and spoil it for you, but it shows a clear comparison between the two lives yet also a definitive moment when
they join. There are a variety of different characters, including Arthur Shaw (Andy Bewley), Gray (Olly Brassell) and Tipper (Mathew Roberts) just to mention a few, who gave brilliant performances to the point where they had established a connection with their audience, which escalated the emotion in their highlight scenes. Those who I have not mentioned in this review, I apologise, but the appraisal stretches to the whole cast. The thing that made this production so effective was how all the characters had a part to play and no one let the cast down – or if they did if their personal opinion, it did not show.
There was a lovely parallel between the flashback scenes between Stephen and Isabelle and the scenes between Jack and Arthur up to the point that those lines blur and Stephen and Jack are left turning to each other. Credit must go to Jason Ryall (who plays Stephen) for the striking difference in his performance style while playing Stephen before and during the war, being awkward and slightly nervous when in love with Isabelle, then being cold and unlikeable when he’s lost everything he cared about. A point I will make was that I loved the fact that Stephen was an ass, which is how he’s portrayed in the original text, unlike the BBC adaptation (sorry to those I offend) which seemed to soften him up. Similar credit needs to be extended to Zoe Biles (who plays Isabelle) who, although dipped in and out of her French accent, clearly showed the clear transition in her character from the restrained, submissive wife into a strong, independent woman through the on stage chemistry between herself and Jason, which seemed to change with each scene.
Where there was the romance between Stephen and Isabelle, there was a further bro-mance between Jack (Iain Campbell) and Arthur (Andy Bewley). Iain’s performance as Jack was mixed with humour, starting off with a rather saucy drag act, heartbreak, an exceptionally deep voice and magic (yes, a little unusual but it was fitted in nicely). Jack’s character is essentially the core of the other soldiers and the fact that Iain’s chemistry with each and everyone one of them was spot on exploited this principle which similarly created that important bond between actor and audience that made his final exit more heart breaking. The same can be said for Arthur (Andy), Jack’s best friend, who from start to finish was there for Jack to speak his true emotions that he kept quiet whilst among the others. This personal connection between the two of them was what made Andy stand out from the rest of the supporting cast and again, although I’ve already said it a lot, made his exit all the more intense. The audience had been stunned into silence.
Ok. So here are my minor criticisms. There were a few things that I picked up on which seemed to let certain scenes down, though it is worth noting that it was no fault of the cast. And I will forewarn you, there are spoilers ahead. There was a moment that they had been building up to throughout the course of Act 1 where they went off to fight the Battle of the Somme and Tipper, who I think found a place in everyone’s hearts, commits suicide out of fear. The reactions of Stephen, Gray and Brennan (Mathew Leczner) were fantastic, as in they hardly reacted at all since the dangers that they faced when they went ‘Over the Top’ were incomparable. But Tipper’s death seemed somewhat underplayed. The cap, if there was any, didn’t make enough of an impact and was no way near loud enough to be heard over the music. There was a similar problem when there was a small gunfight in the tunnels, where the guns didn’t go off or sounded awkward and amateurish. Though this clearly could have been an unavoidable circumstance, it just seemed a little unfortunate that it didn’t have the amount of emotional impact that other characters received (which wasn’t helped by the fact that Tipper appeared alive and well at the beginning of the second Act). All that said, it was a minor niggle that didn’t have a lasting impact on the overall performance.
There were also lines of dialogue that seemed odd and out of place, which stood out more because the rest of the script was a great interpretation of the original book. Intense moments between Stephen and Isabelle that had reached emotional heights seemed to be dampened by the inclusion of such phrases such as ‘I want to kiss you’ or ‘Can I touch you.’ In context, it’s probably easier to understand where I’m coming from, but the rest of the script was so sophisticated and professional that these small snippets of dialogue seemed inappropriate.
While I’m on the topic of the script, I found it interesting that the speech made by Barclay (Joseph D’angelo) moments before the Battle of the Somme was written and performed in a comedic style, something that I’ve never seen before. It was an intelligent decision on behalf of the director, juxtaposing what becomes a bloody massacre with a few minutes of light-hearted comedy, which I think made the end of Act spectacular.
On a final note, I want to make quick appraisals to the choreography which avoided being too abstract and blended nicely with the serious tone and the technical crew who controlled the dramatic tone through the use of the loud, marching music and the quiet, peaceful sound of birdsong. There was a particular moment at the end of Act I which I can’t not mention, where Stephen, Gray and Brennan were walking through the sandbag walls in slow motion to dramatic, upbeat music and intense strobe lighting which was a hell of way to end what had been an amazing first half.
All in all, this is definitely not a show to miss. I continue to be amazed how Dramasoc can put on such professional and stylised productions. You have until Sunday 9th to go and see it and I would strongly recommend it.