Showing @ Hill Street Theatre, until 29 Aug @ 7:15pm
Finding comedy in World War One is not always easy and is made more difficult because of unfortunate comparisons to ‘Blackadder Goes Forth’ but Poppies manages it with style. Upsetting and unsettling at times (but that is the point), this subject matter should not be easy. This may not have the brutal destructive beauty of Sassoon, Graves or Owen but it does contain a certain uneasy poignancy.
Told in short sharp sketches that at first appear unrelated, they are joined together with skill by writer Kieran Lynn. At times the visual comedy and slap-stick take away from this comedy-drama, which is a pity, but nothing can take away the actors’ belief in what they are doing.
This is a still a profoundly entertaining experience which deserves a viewing. Against the backdrop of the recent civil unrest in England, how can the government even publically question the curtailing of social media sites?