Birdsong adapted by Rachel Wagstaff Birmingham Repertory Theatre, 6 Centenary Square, B1 2EP, until 01 February 2025, 3☆☆☆. Review: Joanna Jarvis.
Photo Credit: Pamela Raith.
Birdsong adapted by Rachel Wagstaff
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, 6 Centenary Square, B1 2EP, until 01 February 2025,
3☆☆☆. Review: Joanna Jarvis.
“A powerful evocation of love, passion and loss.”
Birdsong is an epic tale of love, passion, and loss set in France before and during the first world war. Adapted for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff from the novel by Sebastian Faulks it has become a three-act drama, highlighting the emotional arc of his story. In Act I we are in Amiens, where the family of a wealthy factory owner is disrupted by the arrival of a young Englishman, Stephen Wraysford. He and the owner’s wife Isabelle fall in love and their overwhelming passion sweeps in like a wave over the family’s life. Act II takes us to the trenches, two years into the war, where sappers and soldiers are worn down by the relentless nature of the conflict. Deep protective friendships develop in such circumstances. We meet Jack Firebrace and his fellow sappers who dig tunnels under the battlefield, constantly aware of the Germans above or below them in their own tunnels. The lives of Wraysford, by now an officer, and Firebrace will become intertwined in the dark mud of the Somme. Act III takes us to the end of the war and resolutions, good or bad, for the characters we have come to know.
James Esler gives Wraysford a steely charm as he comes to understand the emotional dynamics within the factory owner’s family. Isabelle, played with passion by Charlie Russell, is morally torn between overwhelming love and her duty as a wife. Max Bowden as Firebrace shows us a sensitive character who has lost his bearings in the mud and darkness. His occasional letters from home only bring him more pain. The songs sung beautifully by the men, especially the one of their final letters home, bring deeply emotional and affecting moments to the battlefield.
Visually, the setting by Richard Kent and lighting by Jason Taylor, give power to the story. Moving from sunny, summer days by the river Somme to the darkness and mess of the trenches. The claustrophobia, terror, and mud of the tunnels is powerfully evoked. The desperate need for silence underground contrasting with the sounds of battle, at moments overwhelming the theatre, which have been forcefully created by Dominic Bilkey.
This production is a strong evocation of a complicated story. Distilling the essence of a huge novel into a three act play inevitably leads to the loss of some of the nuance and subtleties of character developed over pages of writing. The acting in Act I is a little mannered, and some of the soldier characters feel stereotypical. However, the disruption of the war, the terror and heightening of emotion, the variety of relationships developed between those thrown together by the randomness of it all, retain the essence of the story and provide potent theatre.
Cast
Evans/Levi – Joseph Benjamin Baker
Jack Firebrace – Max Bowden
Tipper – Raif Clarke
Stephen Wraysford – James Esler
Brennan – James Findlay
Turner/Military Policeman – Dave Fishley
Lisette Azaire/Emmeline – Gracie Fellows
Margueritte – Sulin Hasso
John/Lebrun/Shaw – Rama Phethean
Jeanne Fourmentier/Nurse Mary – Natalie Radmall-Quirke
Berard/Colonel Barclay – Roger Ringrose
Isabelle Azaire – Charlie Russell
René Azaire/Captain Grey – Sargon Yelda
Creatives
Director – Alastair Whatley
Designer – Richard Kent
Lighting Designer – Jason Taylor
Sound Designer – Dominic Bilkey
Original Music Design – Tim van Eyken
Composer – Sophie Cotton
Casting Director – Ellie Collier-Bristow CDG
Musical Director – James Findlay
Associate Director- Bethany West
Military Advisor – Tony Green
Fight & Intimacy Directors – Yarit Dor, Enric Ortuño
Dialect Coaches – Frankie Aaronovitch-Bruce, James Aitken
Violinist (recording) – Jessie May Smart