Alexandra Palace Theatre, London – until 8 March 2025
Reviewed by Debra Stottor
4****
More than 30 years after the publication of Sebastian Faulks’ original novel, and well over a century after the events it describes, Birdsong is back on stage. Rachel Wagstaff’s adaptation reminds us not only of the horrors of war, but of the personal trauma, loss and endeavour behind those events.
Having read the book not too long after it was published, I was uncertain how it would translate to the stage – I needn’t have worried. And we were warned that the show was three hours with two intervals – however, the evening flew by as we became absorbed into the story and its characters.
The first act in this Original Theatre production was in many ways the least successful: shifting swiftly from Azaire’s house to his factory, to Amiens itself and back again many times to set out the back story of visiting Englishman Stephen Wraysford (James Esler) and the woman he falls in love with, Isabelle Azaire (Charlie Russell).
Those who have read the novel will recall the all-consuming passion of this affair, and this is portrayed somewhat graphically here (the play is advised as being suitable for ages 15 and over, for good reason) – it’s questionable as to whether this was entirely essential to the adaptation, but it is faithful to the novel.
As the first act cantered along at great pace to fit in the detail of the story, there were times it felt as though certain characters were reduced to caricatures, particularly Lisette Azaire (Gracie Follows), Isabelle’s flirtatious, immature stepdaughter, who is very much smitten by the handsome young Englishman who has come to stay.
We are then taken to the trenches and tunnels of war-torn France, where the battles were not just with the Germans, but between the army ranks, with Wraysford the officer in charge of a ragtag group of soldiers, including boy soldier Tipper (Raif Clarke), whose youth and naivety amplifies the horrors all are witnessing. The camaraderie of the lower ranks works well here, portraying the banter between them, and the burgeoning friendships born of the hardship suffered. Particularly poignant was the bond between Jack Firebrace (Max Bowden), desperate for news from home, and Arthur Shaw (Tama Phethean), to whom he turned to for help in reading the letters from his wife, thus receiving devastating news second-hand.
The end of the war is not the end of the drama, as we see the effects on Wraysford of all that he has witnessed and discover the fate of Isabelle, her sister Jeanne (Natalie Radmall-Quirke) and others we met before war changed their lives irrevocably. We end, as we began, in the present as Wraysford’s great-grandson searches for clues about his ancestors.
It’s an epic story that spans decades and disparate settings, so the staging is challenging, but by paring back the props to essential items only and using lighting (and a lot of dry ice) to create atmosphere, the scenes shift easily, without disrupting the story. This is an ambitious novel brought to life in an equally ambitious production – and will leave viewers both emotional and in awe of what they have witnessed.