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Journey’s End
By RC Sheriff
Directed by Jonathan Berry
Produced by Griffin Theatre Company
At the Theatre Building Chicago
1225 W. Belmont
Chicago, IL
Call 773-327-5252, tickets $24
Thursdays thru Saturdays at 7:45 pm
Sundays at 2:45 pm
Running time is 2 hours, 45 minutes with intermission
Through March 9, 2008
Riveting World War I drama puts a face on fear
Griffin Theatre Company offers a searing look at a British infantry company in battle torn France in March, 1918 just before the final German assault of the war in RC Sheriff’s 1929 drama, Journey’s End. This is a brilliant production of a subtly riveting anti-war drama. It is very British with loads of stiff-upper-lip manner and much “rather,” “right-o” and “jolly good” together with a fine mixture of cockney and highly educated English accents.
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Jessica Kuehnau’s set design aptly depicts an underground wood-supported trench billet. Joshu Horvath’s sound design together with Heather Gilbert’s lighting created the eerie sights and sounds of warfare. Director Jonathan Berry’s casting is superb with Nigel Patterson (Osborne) as the old-timer officer and former school master, Hans Fleishman (Stanhope) as the young captain suffering so much from battle fatigue that he drinks himself into oblivion. When a very young officer (Lt. Raleigh) John Dixon arrives, Stanhope becomes rattled since Raleigh was a younger classmate and worships Stanhope. He knows that he can’t live up to Raleigh’s expectations and that he can’t protect him from harm. He fears that Raleigh will write home to his sister with whom Stanhope loves telling her about his excessive drinking.
This splendid production is filled with realistic banter and triviality that soldiers go through when they are faced with the long boredom between battles. The stalemated war finds only 70 yards separating the British and German forces. After long silences, the two sides resume slaughtering each other. The Brits await another battle. This psychological drama dramatically illustrates how each soldier deals with the fear of death and the despair from the futility of war. Things like pepper, tea, dry socks and a letter from home become all important.
We see how the boyish, naļve and brave Raleigh initially believes the war to be a grand adventure until he survives a raid that finds one of the officers and five enlisted men killed. John Dixon is terrific in this breakout role as Lt. Raleigh. Nigel Patterson and Hans Fleishman offer nuanced and understated emotional performances. The ensemble was excellent in this truthful drama that shows how ordinary humans struggle with fear. Their escapes become strained with the brutality of war. This play will shake you to your core. Theatre such as Journey’s End should have a large audience. See this show.
Highly Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date reviewed: February 1, 2008
Jeff Recommended
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