The Stage

Not About Heroes

Published Friday 18 November 2011 at 12:30 by Catherine Usher

Based on the true story of the friendship between First World War poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, Not About Heroes’ fascinating source material automatically means the play has the potential to be magnificent.

Mark Oosterveen (Siegfried Sassoon) and Oliver Powell (Wilfred Owen) in Not About Heroes at the Lion and Unicorn, London Photo: Giant Olive Theatre Company

Mostly it is, helped by the moving and subtle performances of Oliver Powell as Owen and particularly Mark Oosterveen as the reserved, sensitive and disillusioned Sassoon. Although in the modern context, it all seems very homoerotic, the strength of their close friendship contrasts sharply with the uncertainty they face about whether they can both survive the war.

At first the knowledgeable tutor, Oosterveen is remarkable at capturing the playful yet guiding role that Sassoon assumes, counselling the more naive Owen, both in terms of how to develop his poetry work and how to navigate his way up the social ladder. Powell does a great job at displaying Owen’s earnestness, thoughtfulness and underlying despair, and the moment when they sit together working on the legendary Anthem For Doomed Youth is a mesmerising highlight.

Certainly, the episodes in which Owen stands to the side and narrates letters home to his mother are visually clunky and the second half has a less intense tone than the first, but on the whole, this production is incredibly slick - largely thanks to the two outstanding performers.

It’s not often that you see such quality on the London fringe and this production of Not About Heroes certainly deserves a much larger audience than it is likely to reach.