| 23 August 2011
Private Peaceful tells the tale of Private Tommo Peaceful as he forces himself to stay awake by tracking the journey of two Brothers in Arms, himself and his older brother Charlie, from their home in the West Country to the killing fields of Ypres. Acted alone by Leon Williams, Michael Morpurgo’s children’s novel is beautifully recounted and perfectly pitched for the family audience this Fringe.
Leon’s portrayal of Tommo is both affecting and affectionate: he recounts the joyous moments of Tommo’s life with such bright eyes and earnest enthusiasm, that you can see Tommo squelching barefoot along the river bank with Charlie and Molly, and feel his nervous excitement on his first day at school with ease. These tender moments are framed the whole way through by Tommo’s imminent death at the hands of the firing squad in the morning. Each new scene signals this progress with his watch ticking like a heartbeat and his acknowledgment of the time slipping away: five past ten, twenty to eleven, nearly quarter past eleven all pass, until we reach our destination at one minute to six the following morning.
This play is simple and eloquent, with an atmosphere that is persistent and ominous. With only a few props on stage and himself to enliven all the characters, Leon does a sterling job. My one criticism of his performance, however, is that he needs to keep abreast of which accent he is using and when. The pace and the style of storytelling here are geared to a younger audience, but I am sure that the older generations will enjoy it too.
Private Peaceful, Pleasance Pasture, 4-29 Aug (not 15), 2.20 pm
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