Theatre / alex stedman
Review: Pink Mist, Bristol Old Vic
“Who wants to play war?” goes the chant: and by the end of this gripping show you’ll be sure you don’t.
This is the story of three Bristol lads who go off to fight, told in modern verse by Arthur (Phil Dunster), whose idea it was, and seen also through the eyes of the women in their lives.
Each has a different motivation: Taff (Peter Edwards) is played as excitable but vulnerable, Hads (Alex Stedman) is all about the valour of bringing his men back to base each night, undamaged by hidden explosives.
is needed now More than ever
The play is riddled with places you’ll recognise. Although Emma Cains’ set is a simple white square, we are transported to Dundry Hill, the Thekla, the Tunnels and then Afghanistan and the hospital, through a wonderfully fluid lighting and musical score. Hands, dance and sound combine to create scenery.
Writer Owen Sheers has been called the war poet of our generation, and his verse-drama wrestles with the big questions around war: what motivates soldiers to kill? Is it worth it? As you watch, you wince: there’s an inevitability about the tragedy here.
Everywhere, the ripples are felt: Hads’ physical pain is matched by his mother’s horror (Zara Ramm). Rebecca Hamilton also gives one of the most nuanced performances as Gwen, Arthur’s partner, becoming increasingly prickly in response to his shutting her out. But it’s the scream from Taff’s partner Lisa (Erin Doherty) that echoes the longest.
Despite the horror of war, there’s still a lightness to the script: the lilting rhythm of the verse drama urges us on, and there’s plenty to laugh at too. At the heart of it all is a challenge to the audience, to see each individual casualty as having the biggest of consequences.
It’s exciting to see this play with so much homegrown talent. But from tonight’s three standing ovations, it’s clear we won’t be able to keep this to ourselves for long. Go now, before the rest of the country clamours for it.
Pink Mist is at Bristol Old Vic until July 11. For tickets and more information, visit www.bristololdvic.org.uk/pinkmist.html
Photos: Mark Douet