Albert Camus once said, ‘Impulses are the most sacred of human emotions.” On Wednesday this week, my good friend Janet offered me a free ticket for Thursday evening’s show of Lilies on the Land by The Lions Part at the Chameleon, Chandler’s Ford. On an impulse, I accepted it. I am glad I did.
The advertisement for the play stated, ‘A humorous look at wartime life, based on the real lives of the Women’s Land Army’ (WLA). After the show, I came away with the feeling that the blurb did not do full justice to the director and the all-women cast who put on a show par excellence.
“We shall fight on the beaches …” Churchill’s famous wartime speech set the tone for the evening. Dressed in costumes of wartime England, the WLA girls conveyed the ambience with skill. The sombreness of war was never downplayed, yet they managed to have us splitting our sides with clever and witty dialogues, narrating and bringing to life personal anecdotes.
The actors, each one of them, performed their role with panache and genuine involvement. The entire play was interspersed with songs that many in the audience connected with and joined in. The narrative style with characters emerging from behind the curtains and playing out their roles, felt as if one was reading a book that couldn’t be put down. For instance, one of the young girls would say to the others,
“And the farmer came out of the barn and said to me …”
Then a farmer dressed in dungarees and wellingtons would emerge and complete the dialogue. Brilliant technique.
The entire play was laced with fine humour, nevertheless bringing home the crucial role that the young girls of the WLA played in keeping Britain’s farms productive during the war years while most of the young men were conscripted.
From one of the girls being genuinely surprised that milk didn’t originate in bottles but had to be squeezed out of cows, to their exploits with American soldiers, to the scene of three cows complaining about the unfairness of artificial insemination, the play was rip-roaringly funny.
The temporary sets were ingenious and had a simple elegance about them. It was quite commendable that with a few wooden pallets, odd frames of wood, and a step ladder, they were able to simulate tractors, stables and even a latrine.
Off the stage, the ploughman’s dinner, included in the price of the ticket and laid out on tables shared by friends and strangers (who subsequently turned friends) added an extra flourish to the evening. And I would be remiss if I didn’t commend the generosity of the lady at the bar who served me the largest glass of Chardonnay ever for a very modest price!
Most poignant of all was the scene where the girls sang Silent Nights during Christmas and the prisoners of war, Germans and Italians, sang along in their respective languages. The best of humanity was on display – while nations fought wars, their peoples sang as one.
I came away with knowledge about a piece of history about my adopted home, which I was never aware of. A very enjoyable evening indeed.
Note: The play was directed by Lorraine Biddlecombe.
A review by Allison Symes will appear next Friday.
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Great review, Gopi. Am looking forward to sharing mine on Friday. Fabulous play and very thought provoking.
It’s such a great review, Gopi. It was such a wonderful evening – such a poignant, emotional performance. It has evoked such a lot of memories and seeing the world today, I’m sure the audience can really relate to the unfolding drama.
At the time is was a necessary scandal that girls should have to do hard manual labour in the fields in all weathers. Our fathers realised that girls were not as delicate as they had been led to believe.
BTW, should it not have been a ploughgirl’s supper?