Oh What a Lovely War was a landmark satirical musical when it graced the London stage in 1963. Now, a new production from Northern Stage reinvents this groundbreaking classic to show that it has lost none of its power and urgency when it arrives at the Liverpool Playhouse on Tuesday 30 March to Saturday 3 April.
Featuring a madcap orchestra of musicians, dancers, singers and clowns who come armed with musical ingenuity and bawdy squaddie humour, Oh What a Lovely War is an entertaining and exuberant ride through the ironies and tragedies of the First World War. Songs include well known favourites Pack Up Your Troubles and Keep The Home Fires Burning.
Co-directors Erica Whyman (Our Friends in the North, A Doll’s House, Look Back in Anger), and Sam Kenyon (Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Sunset Boulevard), have juxtaposed the emotional punch of Birdsong and the biting satire of Blackadder in fun-filled storytelling with a tough, dark heart.
As more battalions were sent to the First World War from the North West, North East, Wales and Ireland than any other region, Whyman and Kenyon are using these northern voices that made up the war, rather than the London accents traditionally portrayed in the production.
Whyman says: “The cast are instrumentalists, singers, dancers, comedians, actors, and they are doing all of those things at once.
"It has been extraordinary rehearsing it because in any one day you might be feeling heartbroken or overwhelmed by the tragedy of some of the things that happened between 1914-1918, and then ten minutes later we’re being extremely silly and dancing around – a cavalcade of a process.”
Kenyon says: “It is incredibly moving to work on this subject but also on this play because what it does is it puts a counterpoint against the darkness of the subject matter which is very lively and Vaudevillian and that in turn creates a tension that is very emotive”.
The show is suitable for everyone age 12+ and will run from Tuesday 30th March - Saturday 3rd April. Tickets cost between £9.50 – £20 and are available from the Box Office 0151 709 4776 or via online booking at www.everymanplayhouse.com
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