Oh what a lovely war joan littlewood

There is the powerful use of the popular satirical war songs, the sense of choreography, the use of documentary information to counterpoint the burlesque, and the passionate anti-war message. But there are many differences as well. Joan Littlewood could not bare the colour khaki and refused to have any of her characters in anything resembling an army uniform so all the performers appeared in pierrot costumes. What a Lovely War is certainly of its time and tells us as much about the s as it does about the First World War. But just as the original Theatre Workshop production tried to explain and understand the war 50 years after its start, it is certainly worth looking at it again as we run up to the centenary of the war. It seems extraordinary that the original theatre production is as far distant from today as the declaration of war in was when the Theatre Workshop first staged the musical.

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Content:

• Oh What a Lovely War: a red rag for a certain kind of bull
• More Productions by Opening Date
• The birth of Oh! What a Lovely War
• Oh What A Lovely War
• Oh! What a Lovely War!
• User Reviews
• Canberra Rep's Oh What A Lovely War! at Theatre 3 highlights the folly of war
• WAR ON FILM – Oh! What a Lovely War
• Oh What a Lovely War

WATCH RELATED VIDEO: Oh What A Lovely War

Oh What a Lovely War: a red rag for a certain kind of bull

Oh What A Lovely War! Directed by Chris Baldock. Musical director: Ewan. Choreographer: Ylaria Rogers. Canberra Repertory Society. Theatre 3, 3 Repertory Lane, Acton. Photo: Helen Drum. Canberra Repertory Society's final production for its season is this satirical musical devised by Joan Littlewood and the Theatre Workshop in Britain.

The show uses songs of the period and sketches with the actors in Pierrot costumes and makeup to highlight the absurdity and horror of war, juxtaposed with slides showing newspaper headlines and photographs as real-life reference points.

Sometimes, Baldock says, the mood seems relatively light, as when one young girl looking at a casualty list doesn't understand the realities of the situation and goes back to her sewing duties, cueing the tongue-twisting number Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts for Soldiers.

At other times, it's more overtly poignant, as when some soldiers are enduring the horrors of the front line and a woman moves among them singing the patriotic number Keep the Home Fires Burning. I hadn't read it, hadn't seen it, hadn't seen the film. He also had a busy schedule lined up in early - he's currently also directing 42nd Street for Free-Rain and When The Rain Stops Falling which he's also acting in for his own company, Mockingbird Productions, and taking on a small acting role in Supa's upcoming production of Fame.

Not to mention teaching a lot of classes at his acting school. I have to have my own vision" and, substantially, a new production team. He was grateful to Rep for giving him his first opportunity in Canberra when he moved here in He directed a well-received, award-winning production of Arthur Miller's play A View from the Bridge for Rep last year.

While he had long been part of the theatre scene in Melbourne, he wasn't known here but successfully made his pitch for the Miller production.

It quickly established him in the Canberra theatre community. It made such a difference to me," he says. Your ad blocker may be preventing you from being able to log in or subscribe. Home News Latest News. Ad blocker issue Your ad blocker may be preventing you from being able to log in or subscribe.

More Productions by Opening Date

Oh What A Lovely War! Directed by Chris Baldock. Musical director: Ewan. Choreographer: Ylaria Rogers. Canberra Repertory Society. Theatre 3, 3 Repertory Lane, Acton.

The birth of Oh! What a Lovely War

Directed by Leslie Hill and Helen Paris. Dramaturg: Jessi Piggott. Oh, What A Lovely War! Remarkable in its theatrical vision and variety, Oh What a Lovely War! Press and Media:. Jessi Piggott. Notes on Creating the Program. You often hear directors and performers talk about what they want an audience to take away from a production--a feeling, an impression, a question--but surprisingly little attention is paid to the object our guests will most literally take away: the program.

Oh What A Lovely War

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Oh! What a Lovely War!

It makes you laugh—and it makes you want to weep. The songs, dances and sayings of 50 years ago have the requisite distance to lend enchantment to the first World War. The second is still too close for comfort and the third is too horrible to contemplate. But somehow even the imbecilities of the first have achieved a certain charm. If only the casualty figures did not keep intruding! They were, of course, modest figures compared with what homo sapiens achieved more recently and with what he could manage now if he set his ingenuity to it.

User Reviews

Cinema has seen hundreds of war films. Many glorify heroism. Many depict horror. The true masterpieces of the genre can deliver spectacle, yes, but they also tell us something more essential at the heart of every epic struggle in human history, something that unites us all no matter which side of the battle we may be on. In , British director Richard Attenborough transformed that musical into a film involving many of the leading stage and film actors of the day. The stage musical is traditionally performed in Pierrot costumes, using images of war and shocking statistics projected onto a backcloth in stark contrast to the satirical comedy of the action. Some critics, notably the American Pauline Kael in a review originally published in The New Yorker , felt that this treatment diminished the impact of the appalling numbers of deaths. What a Lovely War places some thirty First World War ballads and music hall numbers within a fanciful but coherent historical narrative.

Canberra Rep's Oh What A Lovely War! at Theatre 3 highlights the folly of war

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WAR ON FILM – Oh! What a Lovely War

RELATED VIDEO: Good Bye-ee From Oh What A Lovely War!

No catches, no fine print just unconditional book loving for your children with their favourites saved to their own digital bookshelf. Written by Theatre Workshop, Joan Littlewood. Part of the Modern Plays Series. Oh What a Lovely War is a theatrical chronicle of the First World War, told through the songs and documents of the period.

Oh What a Lovely War

Littlewood shared her hopes of having an audience leave the theatre laughing rather than brooding over a war that was penned the war to end all wars. She was the performer to watch, offering the highest levels of entertainment. So why did Littlewood turn her back on realism in favour of satire? Over the past century the First World War has been recollected through the words of many a soldier-poet, who portrayed extreme action, sodden with dirt and blood in such a way that these images of sadness and horror still resonate with us today. The production begins as you would imagine for a satirical piece, reminiscent of the comedic features of Allo, Allo. As the production continued the flamboyant dance numbers slowly declined whilst the facts and statistics grew in line with the bleak toll of casualties and fatalities. The laughter lessened and the audience participation came to a complete halt as the only numbers from the stage were those of the soldiers dying in the trenches.

For three sold-out nights, the School Hall was decked in camouflage and sand bags, as a strong cast, including pupils from Ladies College, brought the musical to life for an audience of parents, friends, staff and supporters of the School. The principal performances were all terrific, but this was very much a team effort on the part of all the pupils and staff. It was a privilege to perform the play to coincide with the centenary of the end of the First World War, and to honour and pay respect to the OEs who fought and lost their lives as a result of the conflict.