The Two Worlds Of Charlie F - 28th July 2012

Every now and again a play comes along and re-defines what you think about theatre. Is acting about convincingly playing a different character to yourself, relating your own experience or playing a character based on the re-interpretation of events relating to your life? What happens if the actor in the play isn't an actor at all? If you go and see "The Two Worlds Of Charlie F" you can answer these questions.

Playwright Owen Sheers has listened to the stories of soldiers ( male and female) injured during the current Afghanistan conflict and created a drama from their tales. Nothing new about that you might think. The next astonishing act is to persuade the actors to appear in the play in a one-off performance at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. The success of this unique event has resulted in a tour at the coveted Pleasance at the Edinburgh festival.

So, why has this been such a critical success receiving such a glowing endorsement from Ray Winstone ( check out his outstanding Youtube advertisement)? Well, firstly I can't think of such an unusual project and whatever you think about the rights and wrongs of war most people admire (though don't really understand) why people wouild put their lives and bodies on the line.

Great theatre is about connecting with your audience. Ultimately, that is what " The Two Worlds Of Charlie F" is about. You are forced to confront how you deal with people missing limbs in everyday life while listening to their stories of how this occurred. This show works because it is real and avoids the obvious traps. It is not mawkish, it does not manipulate your emotions, it is honest and brutal. The language does not belong in an Ayckbourn play, the description of war is not always easy to hear and most importantly, none of them play the blame game. There is no finger-pointing about the morality of the conflict, any failures of equipment etc, it is just a statement of fact about army life, what happened to them and how they are coping. 

The above sounds heavy-going but the playwright wisely includes a lot of humour and amazingly new songs. Some  (none professional) performers naturally look more comfortable on stage than others, the self-confidence of Cassidy Little in the lead role is extremely impressive, but overall the performances are outstanding. ( The programme is also particularly illuminating about why most of them have agreed to be in the play).

The only suggestion I would make to improve the play is to cut the interval and run it through in one act, which I believe will happen in Edinburgh.

So, if you want to experience an extremely unusual theatrical event rush to see " The Two Worlds Of Charlie F". You won't be disappointed.