Based on the highly acclaimed novel by Sebastian Faulks of the same name, the stage production written by Rachel Wagstaff and directed by Trevor Nunn only skims the surface of a potentially engaging and poignant story. Stephen Wraysford, an Englishman who has come to France to work in a textile factory, engages in an intimate affair with his boss's much older wife Isabelle. She eventually leaves him, and Stephen, distraught, joins the British Army that is currently entrenched in World War I. The play depicts Wraysford's struggle to endure through the war's hardships, and overcome the grief brought by his romantic loss.
The first act seemed rather shallow in that it struggled to develop the characters and allow us to sympathize with them in the way a novel might. The relationship between Stephen and Isabelle began and progressed unrealistically quickly, and too much time was spent on love-making without any words to make it seem genuine. Furthermore, there was a disconnect between the sections of narration and dialogue, as if they play couldn't decide if it was a true play or a novel thrown hastily up onto the stage. While the projections of the scene background certainly had potential, the movement of Stephen from inside the scene to an outside commentator diminished their effectiveness and confused the contour of the story.
In contrast, the portrayal of the brutality and unrelenting nature of war in Acts II and III was extremely well done, and the side-story of Jack vividly brought out the emotional loss and suffering that inevitably comes with war. In addition, the sound effects of gunshots interrupted by bird calls give the story an authenticity and realism that was largely absent in Act I.
While aspects of the play were successful, I believe overall that it lacked the depth and sense of moral ambiguity that could be derived from the story, and allowed us to only penetrate the surface.
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