HAPPY WARRIORS – A DELIGHTFUL WAR OF WORDS

HAPPY WARRIORS – A DELIGHTFUL WAR OF WORDS

by | Apr 6, 2018 | EVENTS, Featured

 

A brave beginning in every sense as Zora Panic, a frustrated young freedom fighter come cook played exquisitely by Martha Dancy, opens the Play on a deserted stage.  Her job is to warm up and amuse the audience and ultimately Randolph Churchill himself, against a backdrop of WW11 and nostalgic music of the time, and she wins hands down on every count.

This extraordinary play by writer James Hugh MacDonald is based on a true story and is skilfully directed by Andrew C Wadsworth.

Mr Macdonald who is seeing the Premiere of his first Play at the age of 91 said: “When I read that Waugh and Churchill had been together in this farmhouse in Croatia and Waugh had got Churchill to read the Bible in a week, that seemed to me a godsend plot”.

Happy Warriors, set in a farmhouse in Topusko, a small town in Croatia, formerly Yugoslavia, is based on a true story from World War II. The comic plot sees author Evelyn Waugh, best known for Brideshead Revisited, antagonised by Randolph, son of Winston Churchill.

Winston Churchill had sent his son, who had the rank of Major, to join the mission in Yugoslavia, and Randolph who was well known for his overly high opinion of himself, was complaining that he lacked companions of his own social and intellectual standing.  Hence Evelyn Waugh, an old chum of the Major, was factored in as a companion to keep him ‘happy’.

As we observe the constant banter and bickering between the two, we are torn between thinking that Churchill regrets requesting such a challenging companion, as it certainly seems to backfire, but is it more of an obvious distraction where war and death beckon at every turn.

As Mr MacDonald says “There are two strong characters, and both want something the other is not prepared to give – and one way or another they succeed or don’t succeed.”

Mr Macdonald’s play was picked up by Joan Lane, from Wild Thyme Productions, one of the early backers of the script for The King’s Speech, which went on to win an Oscar for best picture in 2011.

Simon Pontin as Randolf Churchill not only exudes the arrogance and grandeur of the Major, but reveals his weaker traits as he is relentlessly challenged by his counterpart, Evelyn Waugh.

Evelyn Waugh, beautifully portrayed by Neil Chinneck, is resilient in his goading of Churchill, who in turn reminds him of his Senior ranking – but Evelyn is not deterred and his pay back is deftly dealt in all forms of emotional and verbal inquisition.

A wordy piece in every sense, but judging by the audience on their first night at the Gatehouse Theatre, the Play has a charm and longevity that like its subject matter will more than survive the passage of time.

 

 

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THE SILENT CHILD – WHEN HER WORLD REFUSED TO LISTEN

THE SILENT CHILD – WHEN HER WORLD REFUSED TO LISTEN

by | Apr 3, 2018 | Featured, GloWellness

 

If you haven’t managed to catch up with the award winning Documentary Drama The Silent Child aired on BBC 1 recently, I suggest you do while still available on Catch Up.

The film was based on Rachel Shenton the writer’s own experiences as the child of a parent who became deaf. The film features profoundly deaf six-year-old first-time actor Maisie Sly as the titular child. British Sign Language (BSL) is used in the film. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09rfcbz/the-silent-child

The Silent Child won best short film at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in August 2017. This made it eligible for entry to the Oscars. In December 2017 the film was selected as one of the final ten films in the category for the 90th Academy Awards. On 23 January 2018, it was announced that The Silent Child was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for the 90th Academy Awards, which it then won.

We observe an over-achieving Mother and emotionally detached step-father from a well-heeled British middle class family, who put their children’s education and piano lessons above the needs of their socially challenged daughter Libby who has hearing difficulties.

As we follow the progress of this young girl from her isolation within a large family, to her progress with a ‘one to one’ specialist carer, whose love and commitment gradually brings her into the real world, we feel outraged as the narcissistic parents deprive her of all hope by cutting her off in her prime, through their own refusal to listen to their child or the expert caring for her, even stopping her sign language as they feel it is better for her to lip read.

It is heart wrenching as the carer secretly visits Libby at her new school, and they sign ‘I love you’ to each other – with no one to observe the tragic consequence.

It certainly strikes a chord as we are subtly informed of the lack of care and understanding in the Education system with the need of sign language and awareness in schools, in addition to the loneliness of someone who constantly feels excluded.

We also observe that a classroom can be the most isolating place for someone who cannot engage with other kids, through the school’s inability or refusal to educate their own staff into how to improve the situation with these simple communication skills.

We are brilliantly educated into the silent World of the child, and quickly learn that neglect comes in all forms, and is not necessarily restricted to grimy areas of poverty or bad education, but with the absence of love, and with love comes listening, which as we know, is the most important thing of all.

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