DRAMA
Kathryn Norton-Smith and Emma Haxton Private Peaceful R E V I EW T H E L OWE R SCH OO L P L AY
The ensemble recreated the joyful atmosphere of childhood
I n the centenary year of Passchendaele, one of the major battles of the First World War, it was fitting that this year’s Lower School play was Private Peaceful , a stunning adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s elegiac Great War novel. Over 41 scenes, the play takes us on an epic journey from the Devon countryside to the battlefields of Belgium, as Tommo tries desperately to remember his past. This young company created a charged, thrilling and heartbreaking production, displaying detailed and sophisticated performance work beyond their years. Directed with a charged sensitivity by George Chilcott with Louise Beadel and Emma Prendergast, they beautifully realised the many worlds of this piece, devising a good deal of the set pieces themselves and creating all of the atmospheres and soundscapes. Together, the ensemble recreated the joyful atmosphere of childhood, heightened only by their naive and somewhat gentle approach to the imposing war, providing a sobering counterpoint to the very human tragedy in the final scene. The exceptional boys who took us on the journey through the ages of the Peaceful boys told the story brilliantly. In the
central roles, Tom Crawley-Boevey, Alexi Carver and George Loynes conveyed the aging arc of Private Thomas Peaceful, while Oscar Pelly, Gilbert Edwards and Oliver Boardman impressed as his older brother and best friend Private Charlie Peaceful. All inhabited their roles with skill and understated emotional expression to leave a lump in the throat, and a chilling reminder of the terrible waste. All of the students embodied detailed characters as they filled the Edward Alleyn Theatre with the living, breathing and sometimes comedic incarnations in this delicate story, creating characters we could engage with, characters we could feel pain for and those we did not want to say goodbye to. Niccoló Robertson perfectly captured one such character, that of Molly, dearest friend of Private Tommy, who was besotted with her, and of Private Charlie Peaceful, whom she eventually married. A demonstration of childhood innocence and joy was brilliantly portrayed between Molly and the boys: this was a genuine and realistic glimpse of friendship and its treasured memories. These young actors are ones to watch, and this production will live long in the memory.
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