| The war is dead long live the war by Patrick Jones |
| First presented in 2003 by Professional Company outside Wales |
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cast size:2
synopsis: black and white white and black - 2 men brought together in no man's land - a strange meeting in the arena of shock and awe - they are from different wars but the battle's the same - ghosts of ww1 poets rise like atom bombs - bush's soundbites grate against history's dignity and despair There's only one winner in this war of wills and he's not even in the war- the absurdity and tragedy of war is echoed through 2 men's stark sadness and experiences - they take you on a journey tommy franks never dares take - black and white white and black any man this man your man my man their man - no man original music by James Dean Bradfield directed by Sally Ann Gritton Presented by Sorted Productions Paul Amos plays BLACK Chris Lennard plays WHITE |
There are 2 reviews of Professional Company outside Wales's The war is dead long live the war in our database:
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The war is dead long live the war
by Patrick Jones
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[print] |
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venue Blackwood Miners Institute |
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September 10, 2003 |
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| Probably The most significant theatre piece of the 21st Century! Patrick Jones’ forceful and immensely poetic drama is a passionate assertion of the futility of mankind. And we all must be silly fucking idiots to stand by and let all this killing go on in front of our eyes, knowing that it diminishes our very humanity and achieves absolutely nothing. Two soldiers, having dropped beneath life hovering somewhere just above death, engage in conversation. A Patrick Jones conversation is no ordinary conversation. It’s tough and graphic and reveals to us the horrors and reality of war far more clearly than the daily bombardment of the real thing that we get from the television news. ‘Black’ has seen it all before, he was sent down from the field of life during the First World War and has observed the continuing killing for eighty-five years. He’s almost relaxed about it now and gives a warm and comforting welcome to ‘White’. White is a vulnerable and scared young soldier recently shot out of our war, today, in Iraq. The command of the poetry and rhythms of the script and the quality of the acting of Paul Amos as Black and Chris Lennard as White is of the very highest order. Whilst they convince us that they are real people who have gone through all the experiences they describe, we never once forget that they are actors totally involved with the writer, director and the music of James Dean Bradfield committed to placing a work of theatre art of ‘da Vinci’ excellence before us. Directory Sally Ann Gritton fuses into the work with a stylish and subtle choreography that at all times finely tunes the poetry of the script. As the play progresses the dialogue continues to tear at us, almost making us want to leap from our seats to go out and march against the war and against all our political ‘masters’. These guys really talk to each other as real soldiers. Their banter can be heard in any mess at any time. For a while they come together, start to understand and appreciate each other’s positions but as White’s confidence grows Black’s frustrations start to build up in him once more. He is unable to find a release from his or our hell. White reverts to a crass solution. He yells “GOD’S A BASTARD”, a phrase we’ve all heard before but when Patrick Jones writes it, it rings frighteningly true. In my last revue of Martin McDonagh’s ‘The Lieutenant if Inismore’ I quoted the Financial Times reviewer extolling that “everyone should see it”, a phrase I seriously questioned. That’s his opinion. In my opinion everyone and I mean everyone must see Patrick Jones’ play ‘the war is dead long live the war’. At the present moment, sadly, there are no plans to bring the play to Cardiff but it can be seen, just down the road from ‘Buck House’, at the ICA The Mall London SW1Y 5AH 15th – 20th September 8pm. |
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| reviewer: Michael Kelligan |
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The war is dead long live the war
by Patrick Jones
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[print] |
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venue SummerWorks Toronto, Canada |
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August 11, 2005 |
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| Some of the early buzz at this year's SummerWorks theatre festival has been swirling around two plays from Wales — Cancer Time by Gary Owen and The War is Dead Long Live the War by Patrick Jones. The festival opened yesterday and the latter was one of the first offerings; it's an impassioned if heavily didactic anti-war play, keying on two soldiers who meet in no man's land. Thomas Black (Paul Amos) is a haunted figure from World War I, clutching a blanket around him as he muses poetically about seeing "God through the mud" and quoting generously from Wilfred Owen. John White (Chris Lennard) is a loud and cocky veteran of the Iraq war or "campaign" as he calls it. He's the self-styled good guy. His cause is just and the enemy are all criminals: "They die like animals because that's what they are." How the two become trapped in purgatory together unfolds in the course of the play. Black has been trying to escape since his death 87 years ago; White has just arrived and believes for awhile that it's all a big test, a kind of Who Wants to be a Millionaire game show. Playwright Jones stresses with resounding emphasis that war exploits the young to further the interests of the old and powerful. The young have been bastardized by their actions. "Our fathers have foresaken us," Black says. It's a strong and urgent piece, even if its overall shape and direction is telegraphed. It's well-acted, with the two characters a study in contrasts and director Karl Francis keeping the show moving along briskl Directed by Karl Francis. At Passe Muraille Mainspace |
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| reviewer: Robert Crew |
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