First Light (Chichester)

[David J]

This is pretty good so far.

This is going back and forth between No Mans Land and one of the main character's parents in Manchester. A plain room is filled with a trench at the back and scene transitions are marked with barrages and men scrambling over the top, taking on and off furniture

The comradere between the soldiers are wonderfully portrayed. The focus is on Bert (who is the son of the parents we see) and Alfie. For all the attention Bert and his family is given, David Moorst is the more interesting as the jokester Alfie

Also whilst the framing of the play is good, the parents scenes are shown after the events concerning the two lads, meaning that the play kinda spoils what happens to them

Now the story is that the two lads desert the army, and anyone who knows WW1 will guess what happens to them. Still a little bit of suspension would have been nice

[David J]

It grew on me.

Despite what I felt about a little suspense (which is just a measly nit pick) the structure of the No Man's Land and Manchester scenes work hand in hand.

The scenes between the two lads (and this is based on a true story) are the heart of the debates this play has about the morality of desertion and the firing squad. A lot of which are provided by the family, but also at one point by Sam Phillips as this pragmatic Lieutenant who guards the two during their trial, who goes to speak to Andrew Woodall as this brandy swigging general who presides over their open-and-shut case.

The strongest moments are definitely the No Man's Land scenes. Against a towering wall of mud that is a trench we see men clamber and stumble over during scene transitions amidst explosions, gunfire, and rain. I've admired director Jonathan Munby for deftly creating a sense of location and atmosphere in Antony and Cleopatra, The Merchant of Venice, and Therese Raquin and this is no exception.

The highlight performance is David Moorst as the jokester Alfie. He was the life and soul of many a scene amidst the comradere of his fellow men. Here's hoping we see more of him.

He represents the remaining strands of humanity that the soldiers cling on to, and it a great contrast to Tom Gill's distant Bert. I take back my comment that he is less interesting than Alfie because by the second act you are wondering what is wrong with him. The way the two react differently, especially during their final moments, is fascinating.

That said, Tom Gill does get overshadowed by David Moorst's performance in the first act, which is no fault of his. A few more hints of his condition might have been useful. If there is a problem with the structure of the play is that I would have preferred to stick to one of the two plot lines, so that the play could explore further issues like shell shock.

I favored the emotional rollercoaster of the No Man's Land scenes, whilst the Manchester scenes do inevitably slow down the play a tad. Not that they aren't interesting. Phil Davis is fantastic as Bert's father, adamant that his son's war grave must say "Shot at Dawn", whilst Amelda Brown and Kelly Price as his wife and daughter want to move on.

This wont be one of my favourite plays of the year but it is a great one to see.

[showgirl]

Having now seen this I cannot add to or improve on David J's typcially excellent post above, other than to say that the play held my attention 100% throughout despite the fact that it was not only long (2 hours 35) but an evening performance with an unhelpfully late start (7.45 pm).

My only quibble would be with the plot development which sees the 2 main characters' abortive attempt to escape (not a spoiler as the outcome is clear from David J's post); it wasn't the fact that they tried which tested my credulity but what they were shown doing in terms of disguise and travel. However, for all I know the writer, Mark Hayhurst, had found examples of both in his research.

Mark Hayhurst's previous play, Taken At Midnight, which was produced at the same venue last year and transferred to the West End, did not appeal to me as it was just too dark - so my seeing this might seem inconsistent - but on the basis of First Light, he is definitely someone whose work I shall now look out for.

[David J]

I might also add that I found the way the lads were discovered could have been portrayed a bit better.

Of course I don't know how exactly the real boys were discovered on the boat they were trying to escape on, and the staging at that moment was limited

But leaving a case full of rations open in full view of a steward made me want to smack my forehead