The Plough and the Stars - NT

Surprisingly compelling, there was something of a great symphony to this play and Davies/Herrin’s production. I find myself something of a contrarian here – I really rather liked this. I found Juno and the Paycock fell flat, and I found The Silver Tassie an academic rediscovery which didn’t really work on stage, but this had a communal energy, and changes in tone, which made it quite entertaining and rather enlightening. The tone of this production was of ordinary lives lived at a fast pace as the world moved faster around them, whilst the script had a musicality which belied its domestic and political setting. I can’t say I loved this, but after two underwhelming O’Caseys, The Plough and The Stars seemed really quite a cut above, with something interesting to say about how communities start revolutions.

The Silver Tassie, of course, had that musical scene. I thought it worked in isolation, but as the second of four parts it was a sore thumb. When the drama turned into a pre-emptive O What A Lovely War, The Silver Tassie stopped being a play and started being four short plays, and that made for naff drama. The Plough and the Stars was a much better evocation of music than an actual musical section ever could be: this production had crescendos and diminuendos, solos and tutti, unison and nigh-on improvisatory jazz. Its second act, the bar, never lost momentum: outside sounds made an ostinato whilst the debate built up with lovely pace. I don’t know if Herrin brought a new energy or Davies found more to work with, but throughout I found what was impressive – and even educational – about this production was how like Caryl Churchill the overlapping intercutting dialogue was, but more presciently how scenes – like symphonies – swelled into unison (setting off a nationwide war) before softening into solos (bringing a sometimes desperate and innocent humanity into this history lesson). Because it was entertaining first and foremost to the ears (liked the set but like many things swamped in this too-big theatre) it was a rather entertaining piece of work, so when Act III exploded like it did it shocked far more pertinently than any of the explosions in The Silver Tassie, whilst the deaths in Act Four had an emotion resonance Juno and the Paycock lacked. I don’t think it’s a great play because I still think it doesn’t get to the heart of why this rebellion happened (perhaps, written so soon after the event, rewriting to add context would be good), and doesn’t consolidate its three strands of the theoretical upset causing revolution with the physical violence with the character work (interesting though all three over-stuff strands are), but I think it’s a very very good piece of theatre as seen here. Great cast, fascinating script, not perfect and not essential but surprisingly entertaining and surprisingly quite powerful.