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Oh What A Lovely War

Published Monday 29 October 2007 at 10:50 by Natalie Anglesey

Devised, mainly through improvisation, but with a masterly hand at the helm, legendary Joan Littlewood and her famous Theatre Workshop produced this musical entertainment in the early sixties and it remains as fresh today.

Sadly, it is rarely performed these days, because it requires a large cast of 13 excellent actors who are also musicians.

Artistic director Mark Babych ensures, although this indictment of war is specifically about the needless loss of life during the First World War, it remains a pertinent message for today.

Richard Foxton has designed a two tier, end of the pier show, with a couple of sweeping staircases, on which the cast, using the minimum number of props, re-tell history as they play a variety of characters, as well as performing the music. Howard Gray is once more in charge of the musical production and the juxtaposition of the enforced jollity of the songs is in dramatic contrast with the visual images shown on a screen.

The ensemble cast, who sing and dance superbly through numerous costume, hat, wig and moustache changes, work seamlessly as a team. Led by award-winning Matthew Kelly and Matthew Rixon, this excellent cast also includes more good performances from John McArdle and Jeff Hordley.

This entertaining and accessible production is a worthy tribute to the quality performances presented by the Octagon, Bolton, over the past 40 years. Here’s to an equally productive future.

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