Pleasance Theatre, London

'Two of [Miles Malleson's] early plays, Company D and Black ‘Ell, based on his experiences as a serving soldier in the First World War, are being revived at the Pleasance, London, this month. They are vivid and searing accounts of a young soldier’s ordeal as he prepares to face a hellish situation out of his control ... Graham Cowley, producer of the Pleasance season, unearthed these works while researching plays written in and around the First World War. “What was so astonishing about them, apart from their passion and directness, is that they are so naturalistic both in their language and subject matter, which was quite radical for the time,” says Cowley. In May this year Cowley mounted a production of Black ‘ Ell at the Soho Theatre in protest at the Iraq war. “I couldn’t think of a better way of expressing what I felt about the war than this play written in 1916 about a young soldier who returns from the war a hero, riven with guilt, appalled by the carnage and refusing to go back.” … At first sight, it might seem odd that an actor who made his name playing pillars of the establishment should turn out to be such a radical thinker but on further reflection what lay behind Malleson’s superficially gentle buffoonery was a mistrust of the processes of officialdom and bureaucracy. Like all great actors and artists, Malleson’s mission was to find the truth, whether it was on stage or on the page. In 1946 he gave an interview in which he heralded the arrival of a new type of theatre which mirrored the real world and “snatched up life in the raw.” Actually, he had helped to pioneer just such a more naturalistic theatre some 20 years earlier. Forgotten Voices From the Great War will be playing at the Pleasance, London from October 14 to November 2’ (The Stage, 9 October 2003). ‘Forgotten Voices From the Great War is a collection of three works, by two different authors, about the First World War. The short plays are not connected but are vaguely sequential. The first and third performances – ‘D’ Company and Black ‘Ell - are both from writer Miles Malleson. Set before and after a battle respectively, these two plays display the mindset of the naive, gung-ho and, inversely, the mentally battle-scarred soldier. Neil Ditt’s Private Dennis Garside unexpectedly steals the performance of Company with the character’s eloquent dialogue. Daniel Weyman has a similar physiological effect on the audience with his desperate, confused and sickened portrayal of battle “hero” Harold, in Black ‘Ell. However, it is the middle play, Brigade Exchange [by Ernst Johannsen], which imbues the most horror … Although starting slowly and with a 45-minute interval after D Company, Graham Cowley and directors Ian Talbot and Tricia Thorns can be sure they will instil the real horror and tragedy of war on their unsuspecting audiences’ (The Stage, 23 October 2003). Theatre Record, 11 November 2003, published reviews from the Evening Standard, What’s On and Time Out among other publications [not seen].