Our Friends The Enemy - On tour - Catch it while you can!

There are various plays that make some connection with the Christmas truce of 1914 – 'Oh What a Lovely War' being one, Robin Kingsland's play 'All Quiet On The Western Front' similarly and now a one man show called 'Our Friends The Enemy' written and performed by Alex Gwyther. Alex Gwyther is a writer and performer and has performed across the country at venues and festivals and events such as Oxford University, The Royal Festival Hall, Latitude Festival and The Mayor of London's Week of Peace in Trafalgar Square. Having been fascinated by the story of the Christmas truce, Alex Gwyther initially wrote the piece as a spoken word poem, which he has performed in front of a thousand strong audience at the Mayor of London’s Week of Peace. He has also been invited to perform at a Remembrance Service in aid of Help for Heroes and St. Dunstan’s Charity on three separate occasions. His style has been described as unique and of a 'tumbling urbane' nature and his works are published by Nasty Little Press and Burning Eye Books.

Gwyther's one man play 'Our Friends The Enemy' looks at the period 10^th December 1914 to January 5^th 1915 from the viewpoint of a young English private in his own trench at Armentières and the trenches of the Germans (mainly the 134^th Saxons) opposite. He talks to the audience in a mix of friendly chat and poetic description interspersed, when you least expect it, with a verbal blast of sudden devastation that hits the heart as accurately as a sniper's bullet.

This is an unselfish piece as the narrative roams like a ghost among the trenches and sits alongside men from both sides and tells of their confusion, their freezing feet, the comfort of a cigarette or a cuppa made in a billy can on a fire. A slice of bacon becomes a lifeline to normality and a reminder of peace times back home Britain or in Germany. The enemy turn out to be 'a nice bunch of chaps from across the way'. The piece is told with a knowledgeable and authentic voice.

A grenade is lobbed into the English trenches and the entrenched soldiers freeze with fear as they play cards. The next fraction of a second could be their last. Only the grenade turns out to a small stone with crumbled paper tied around it. On the paper, in writing written on an uneven surface it says “Merry Christmas Englishmen!” It is from the Germans.

 

 

 

An uneven truce happens with enemies becoming friendly and swopping greetings and addresses, offering simple gifts instead of shells and gunfire. Christmas trees lit up with candles top the German trenches and festive songs and hymns are sung by both sides in this unexpected and historic lull in The Great War. At one point a football match between the two sides ensues and a madcap pursuit of a large hare by English and German soldiers that takes us thrillingly across no-man's land and down into the trenches is relayed by the soldier narrator. Photographs are taken of the mixed grey and khaki groups and Gywther's character James Boyce brings them all believably and poignantly to life. Fraternisation with the enemy could have serious and even deadly personal consequences which private James Boyce comes to realise in this short but excellently written play.

The play is directed by Tom O'Brien and produced by David Adkin in association with Theatre Bench and Robin Raynor. The musical composition is done by Darren Clark and the design created by James Hirst. Theatre Bench was launched in October 2012 to support the development of new works in theatre and dance. 'Our Friends The Enemy' tours until 28^th November 2014. Tour details can be found HERE.

 

Production photography by Pamela Raith, Lighting by Derek Anderson and Design by Jay Hirst.

Interview with Barrie Rutter of Northern Broadsides Theatre

Interview with Barrie Rutter, Founder and  Artistic Director of Northern Broadsides

With Northern Broadsides current touring production of Deborah McAndrew's new play – An August Bank Holiday Lark mid tour I was offered the opportunity to interview their artistic director and performer Barrie Rutter.

 

 

I asked Barrie to talk around the various Morris dances that appear in the show and are in integral element of being part of the story not just as an entertainment. He said that the casting was the most important part of the show and that they had to cast feet as well as talent. “Everyone had to look as if they would get the dance within the parameters of the rehearsal period and I saw a lot of actors and as soon as they started to dance it looked as if it had been poured out of a bucket!”

He also confirmed that the ladies in the cast had to play instruments but not just any instrument because it is folk and the company wanted violins, squeeze boxes, the piccolo, big and small drums. Barrie continued; “You cut your cloth accordingly so if you need sixteen men over six foot that's what you go out to get, don't you? I mean with something like dance and music it's not that obvious but that was the form of the rehearsal period.”

I said that from my reading of various sources including an excellent downloadable Learning Pack from Northern Broadsides that I recalled that the show features five or six different styles of Morris dance and one that develops a much more pronounced military tone.

“Yes, it's a segue and it's all seamless. It's when the chaps go to war which happens like half way through part two. I didn't want it to come too early in terms of going to the trenches. Actually we don't do that in the play. We show the how the world war events are affecting the village. The main characters only have an hour to get married and then he gets the train back to the base camp and they celebrate that with a dance and that segues into him returning back to barracks.”

 

 

On one of your short videos promoting the rehearsal of the play I noticed that there were quite a lot of older folk watching from the seating. I was curious as to who they were and wondered if the public are allowed into your space to watch a rehearsal?

“We always have an open day, with our friends of Northern Broadsides. We always organise a friends day where they come to a rehearsal where we entertain them and show them stuff that we have done and discuss it with them. We don't like it it to be too far down the rehearsal period so that see warts and all and they see problems and they see how we get round them. A craftsman never cuts a corner, he gets round it.”

I asked if that was a long established tradition with Northern Broadsides.

“Yeah, yeah. Ourfriends pay £25 a year and we try to give them as much as possible.”

I explained that I was once a performance arts student in the late 1980s and we had the chance to go to Halifax and Dean Clough to see a land artist exhibition by Richard Long and that one of the former cotton mill spaces was filled with local slate and it was very atmospheric and imposing. From his response Barrie seemed very aware of this piece. I went on to ask about the rushes that are used within the play as a decoration on the rush carts and how long they would have to last during the tour from February to June 2014.

 

 

“Well, we took them down off the Sowerby Bridge rush cart last autumn, when they stripped it and kept them in the theatre in Stoke hoping they would be useful and indeed they are and they've got to last another five weeks. Plus we've got the jockey who rides the wooden saddle on top but that doesn't do any damage. In fact it's a very canny piece of construction that the designer, Liz Evans has made for us and because we can't park it anywhere we build it (the cart) in front of the audience and we take it down as part of the interval. Lots of people stay behind and watch it being dismantled.”

Barrie spoke more about the audience saying that the quality of the 'house' is remarkable because the effect of the play on audiences has been the same since day one. “It is a very big effect that of joy and of theatricality. Terribly moving as well. And it beautifully written and conceived by Deborah and she has written over six plays for Northern Broadside.”

I thanked Barrie for his time and said how much I looked forward to seeing the show at Derby Theatre on 20^th May.