“Journey’s End” at Sutton Arts Theatre in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, United Kingdom (Closes on September 6, 2014)
“Journey’s End” at Sutton Arts Theatre in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, United Kingdom (Closes on September 6, 2014) Written by R. C. Sheriff Directed by Emily Armstrong Reviewed by George Caulton Theratre Reviews Limited
From the flicker of the candle on entrance to the final bows to conclude, Emily Armstrong skillfully directs R. C. Sheriff’s Tony Award winning play “Journey’s End.” With a combination of light comedy to passionate duologues, the auditorium was left without a dry eye. Notably, 2014 marks 96 years since 38,000 British soldiers were killed in the largest artillery barrage the Great War had seen, which only adds to the sentimentality of Emily Armstrong’s terrific execution of the play. A solid cast, authentic scenery and outstanding acting all allows R.C. Sheriff's ground-breaking play to take the audience on an emotional and intellectual roller-coaster.
Alan Lowe firmly captures the innate decency of the reliable Lieutenant Osbourne or ‘Uncle’ with moving sequences of dialogue and extremely poignant scenes with new arrival Raleigh, fantastically played by Jon Flood. The scenes with both Uncle and Raleigh were specifically heartfelt as both actors exceed in portraying two different generations of soldier. The innocence and naivety reflected in Jon Flood’s “topping” performance merely leaves the dénouement with further legitimacy, allowing the audience to grasp the situations thousands were stranded in during the course of WW1 fully.
Robbie Newton exceeds with his portrayal of world-weary bitter, Stanhope with simply outstanding acting and faultless authenticity. The final scene with Stanhope and Raleigh captured the audience to the extent that you could hear a penny drop- an obvious sign of the tense atmosphere created by cast and director. Fantastic contributions too from Tom Frater (Hibbert) who clearly understood his characters positions due to heartfelt emotion of “neuralgia” in his eye which again reflects the outstanding acting and realistic attributes throughout the play.
JOURNEY’S END
Journey’s End runs until September 6, 2014. For further performance and ticket information, please visit http://www.suttonartstheatre.co.uk/
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Friday, September 5, 2014
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