Marking the 30th anniversary of novelist Sebastian Faulks’ epic bestseller, this captivating new production of Birdsong is presented by Original Theatre in collaboration with Wiltshire Creative and JAS Theatricals.

Written for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff and set before and during World War One, it tells a poignant story about love, loss, courage and the futility of conflict. 

In pre-war France, a young Englishman, Stephen Wraysford, embarks on a passionate but dangerous affair with Isabelle Azaire, the beautiful wife of French factory owner Rene. An extremely disagreeable character, Rene is a controlling and abusive husband who also has no regard for the welfare of his workers.

James Esler, making his professional stage debut, is excellent as Stephen, portraying him as an exuberant and joyful young man experiencing love for the first time, while Charlie Russell brings a real sense of fragility to the role of the deeply unhappy Isabelle. The pair give compelling and believable performances as they bring their characters’ love affair to life. 

Esler then further excels, as Stephen faces the brutality of fighting in the Great War, loses his youthful innocence, and becomes an embittered soldier mourning the loss of his first love.

The play’s focus on the horrors of fighting in the trenches, the suffering endured, and the friendships forged amid so much misery, pain, violence and death, makes Birdsong a challenge to watch. Clever use of multi-level staging - depicting the claustrophobic trenches and tunnels - presented alongside impactful sound and lighting, helps give a strong sense of what trench warfare might have felt like for the young soldiers fighting on the Somme. An evocative soundtrack, including well-known songs from the era, helps elevate the emotional intensity of the production.

This is a lengthy play - lasting almost three hours and split into three acts - which presents a complex and emotionally powerful narrative via the perspectives of various characters. It is also the story of a young man’s extremely challenging journey, from being in his prime and revelling in a life-changing love affair, to having to endure the brutality of war, before trying to reestablish a relationship with the woman he has held in his heart throughout the whole traumatic conflict.

All the actors give powerful performances, many playing multiple roles. Worthy of individual mention are Max Bowden and Tama Phethean, who play soldiers Jack and Arthur respectively. Their relationship as comrades is at times playful but ultimately deeply tender and supportive, offering a moving insight into the lives of young, working-class men caught up in the madness of war.

Telling an enthralling and highly emotive story that leaves a powerful impression, Birdsong successfully intertwines the passions of a great romance with the brutal realities of fighting in the trenches for King and country. It carries a message, too, that war continues to be as inhumane today as it was back in the 1914-18 conflict, calling to mind philosopher George Santayana's famous quote: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. 

Birdsong shows at Malvern for the rest of the week. The production then returns to the region early in the new year, running at Birmingham Repertory Theatre from Monday 27 January to Saturday 1 February.

Five Stars

Birdsong was reviewed by Sue Hull on Wednesday 20 November at Malvern Theatres, where it shows until Saturday 23 November