THEATRE REVIEW: The Last Post - 53two, Manchester.

With just two performances, Hobgoblin's production of their own stage adaptation of Keith Campion's novel, 'The Last Post', a one hour three-hander written especially for children, was at Manchester's 53two this afternoon.

The story of 'The Last Post' is not an easy one for youngsters. It tells of a ten-year old boy in Folkestone during the winter of 1914. His father is on the Western Front serving King and country, and all he wants - since he has heard that "the war will be over by Christmas" - is for his dad to come home so that they can enjoy Christmas together as a family. The novel is little more than a series of letters written between him and his father, and so the adaptation too, relied heavily on the written word. It is very short of laughs from start to finish, in fact, the narrative takes a slow downward spiral right to the end. The language used and the style of the production would make it very difficult for young people to understand much of what was happening on stage. There were several youngsters in this afternoon's audience under the age of 10, but I would wager that none of them will have understood everything that happened, including the most important plot points that his father was hallucinating and suffering from 'bomb happiness', and that he is killed in action.

A split stage was used; one side given over to the trenches, whilst the family home living room was on the opposite side. A certain amount of effort was made to make both the set and the costuming in the correct period, but, to the critical and knowledgeable eye, both were giving an impression of only. The correct period set and location, as well as dates (a calendar) were given on a small CGI screen centre stage, and the background music was also in keeping with the era.

The three cast members worked well together, there was a true ensemble feel to the show, but, at least with this afternoon's performance, there was a lack of energy / urgency, and at times, their voices dipped below the level of audibility or were not articulated / enunciated enough for us to completely understand everything. 

Richard Lessen played the father (Joseph) with unerring earnestness, and his cameos of granddad and Lord Kitchener were nicely different and, for the adults at least, brought a little light relief. Liv Koplick played both the young lad's mother at home, and his father's best friend and comrade in the trenches, Pelly; and she flited from one to the other with lightning changes behind the set. A personable and watchable actress. Whilst the young lad, William, was played by Callum Concepcion. 

Incredibly, the children in the audience this afternoon were impeccably behaved and watched the play from start to finish without a murmur, but it was not a stimulating production, and did not truly engage. 

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall

on - 26.10.23