For King and Country Review

For King and Country: 4.8/5

The idea of creating a play dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) before it was understood as it is today is an interesting concept. This play did a good job of showing how one person who might have been afflicted would deal with being court-marshalled for desertion. Desertion that was in fact caused by this disease. However, some of the staging decisions created issue with how well the play kept the attention of the viewers.

                The lighting was dark which created a stage surrounded by shadow. The stage itself was well lit and well contained. The lighting of the normal scenes contrasted with the scenes that took place as part of the fighting. The “war” scenes were incredibly dark, with sudden flashes of light to simulate gunfire. This allowed for the viewers to experience the disorientation created. This fit with the idea of play and the disorientation experienced by many with PTSD.

The set was relatively accurate for the idea’s behind the play with the floor made of crates, which references how buildings would have been created quickly from whatever materials were around. The barbed wire and figurines along with the torn fabric lining the edge of the stage created the illusion of taking place in a war zone. The set was utilitarian and was accurate to a military aesthetic. This was further added too by the size of the stage. It was small, and the audience sat fairly close to the actors.

The costuming was accurate to the time period the play was set in, but all of the uniforms looked the same, unless the viewers knew the difference in how military rank was displayed. This is the issue of dealing with accurate period costume. Yet, the costumes also showed the various disintegration of the characters as well. Private Hamp, the character under court martial had a costume that was clearly worn, and he was not wearing his jacket until the trial started. The rest of the uniforms were in good condition and were at their cleanest and neatest during the actual court martial. The choice to parallel the costumes to the differences in mental states of the characters gives another level to the play. This costuming ties directly into the idea behind the play, bringing to a visual state how someone with a mental illness like PTSD might feel.

However, even though the stage, lighting, and costuming created a historically accurate setting, the content of the play was sometimes hard to understand. The trial scenes were long and combined with the lack of lighting and smallness of the theatre could become boring. Yet, for the most part the scenes were compelling in such a way as to give insight to each of the character’s states of mind. Each of the characters that testified were historically accurate in taking on the attitudes regarding PTSD at the time. The actors created plausible characters, with personalities which fit the situation of the play. The true star was Lloyd Everitt, who played Lieutenant Hargreaves, the lieutenant defending Private Hamp against the death penalty for deserters. His character showed the struggle of a man who knows the outcome of his client but is trying to change the outcome nonetheless. His sympathetic military lawyer along with Adam Lawrence’s Private Hamp truly brought the play to life. Each section of the trial dealt with the problems individual soldiers endured while also showing how difficult it was for someone suffering from PTSD to be taken seriously.

Somehow, even knowing the most likely outcome the audience still found themselves shocked with the announcement of the tribunal’s decision regarding Hamp. This is a testament not only to the actors, but to the writer of the script as well. The writer deserves this credit for creating a script that had lines which telegraph the ending, but still create a possibility of hope that the ending could be different. In addition, the writer must be commended on the accuracy of the script and the actors on the faithfulness to it. The play created a plausible setting with characters that fit the time period of the script. As a whole, a must see for World War I enthusiasts and anyone who is curious to learn more about the history of mental illness.