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‘This is my war. My war for civilisation. My war for freedom. My life. My race. My place. My honour. My home.’
In 1917, during the First World War, three West Indian volunteers find themselves cut off from their regiment. Together with a young white soldier from Liverpool, they are stranded in a bombed-out building in Palestine, under fire from Turkish guns.
Walcott, Patterson and Styles are full of patriotism and want to do their bit for King and country. They expect England to show its gratitude when they go there after the war. The boy Fairchild is more cynical, as is the wounded Sergeant Miller, who finds his way to the outpost after being involved in the fighting. While they wait for rescue, they talk about such things as loyalty, honour and bravery.
Each West Indian soldier is very different. Patterson is their leader and obviously brave, but even he has a secret and is frightened that he may not be brave enough when the moment comes. Walcott is argumentative, while Styles is the peacemaker. Fairchild is scared and though everyone else is dying of thirst, he keeps his water bottle hidden from them. The wounded Miller is very suspicious of the others when he arrives and refuses to trust the others. Promoted through three ranks in just four days, Miller has not had time to adjust to his responsibility and does not a good leader. No-one knows how they will act when the time comes to fight and there will be some surprises when the enemy attacks.
Back in England, the men discover just how grateful the British public is when they find themselves under siege by a violent mob, which has already murdered one black man. It is very ironic that the men were under siege in Palestine while they fought for Britain and in a very similar situation when they return, only this time the enemy outside is the British themselves.
The production by Big Creative Ideas in association with the Birmingham Repertory Company was excellent. The set, which was a corner of a two storey bombed building was very ingenious and converted quickly into the boarding house in Liverpool. The cast was equally strong, with exceptional performances from Curtis Jay Cole as the young Fairchild and Fabian Spenser as Walcott.
The writing was particularly impressive and Juliet Romero managed to cram a lot of thoughts and interesting ideas into the story. The drama itself was made more effective by the use of background music, sound effects such as gunfire and the sounds of the mob outside the boarding house doors.
This was a first class production of a very interesting play and should it come to theatre near you, I recommend that you catch it.
Alice Gilfillan, Sudbury Upper School
10th October 2008
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