York Theatre Royal – until Saturday 7th April 2018. Reviewed by Michelle Richardson
4****
The Soldiers’ Arts Academy and Amanda Faber present, Soldier On, written and directed by Jonathan Lewis, now playing in the Studio at York Theatre Royal before moving to Oxford. With a mixture of ex-servicemen and professional actors, it explores PTSD, how it can affect veterans and their families and how they can deal with issues.
The story follows Harry (David Solomon) with the help of Len (Thomas Craig), a retired Sergeant Major, attempting to put on a play with ex-servicemen and family members, in order to provide them with an outlet to deal with their problems. A stream of would be thespians turn up for the auditions not knowing really what they are signing up for, all they seem to be after is some form of release from everyday life. This bunch are made up of wives, widows, mothers as well as veterans, some want to be there and some have been coerced.
Every character gets to tell their story, the soldier blown up, to the officer with MS, the Asperger sufferer who is just trying to escape for a few hours, the housewife and mother having to bring up her children whist her husband is away on tour, who returns troubled, and subsequently has to deal with domestic violence. The ones that appear to have it all together, really don’t it is all just a façade, a front to hide their inner turmoil. It became unclear who were the “real” actors and who were the veterans, as they were all really committed to their roles.
It was not all doom and gloom, even though there was conflict and darkness, we got to see the camaraderie, the healing, before coming together in order to deliver their performance for their show. There’s humour, a bit of Coldplay and Taylor Swift thrown in and there is even the threat of James Blunt making an appearance!
There were 16 actors, all deserving a mention, on stage at various times the night I went to see it and in such a small space it should not work but it did. They certainly commanded the stage the whole time, never a dull moment, with such realness behind it all. A thought provoking show that thoroughly deserved the standing ovation it received!
Many soldiers leave the army with stress and trauma related problems, and many more cope exceedingly well. Unfortunately there is no magic formula for identifying who could be at risk. Everyone is different and uses their own coping mechanism in order to function and get through life and it can be hard to empathise with something you cannot see. PTSD is a real problem and hopefully through drama and workshops that Sports Arts Academy are setting up, some of those that are affected can be helped to gain confidence and reconnect with society.