CityLife

And A Nightingale Sang

And A Nightingale Sang

And A Nightingale Sang
Oldham Coliseum
March 11, 2010

Originally written by CP Taylor in the late seventies and set in his adopted city of Newcastle upon Tyne, it’s apt that this latest production of And A Nightingale Sang was developed in the other Newcastle (Under Lyme - the one near Stoke).

The two hour plus drama ambitiously covers the full six years of the second world war and its repercussions for the members of a Geordie family.

Opening with the declaration of war in 1939 the scene introduces devoutly religious Mam, Da and his obsession with belting out the latest songs on the piano, elder daughter Helen - our narrator, younger daughter Joyce pontificating whether to marry soldier Eric and his friend Norman who soon develops an eye for Helen.

Meanwhile Grand-da wanders about with pets in tow and steals some of the best comedic lines of the show.

Overall the production is a fine one. The set and costumes are utterly convincing and the performances accomplished, but it’s the original script that has the flaws here.

Though Helen’s monologue interestingly breaks through the fourth wall, the rhythm of telling the audience what is about to happen then acting it out begins to grate. Potentially moving moments such as when Mam hands her eldest daughter her ration book as she is leaving the family home are over played and thus lost.

As are a few comedic moments – a whining kettle the family takes for a bomb dropping doesn’t require Helen’s clumsy line of ‘suddenly, I knew what the noise was.’

However in the main the script is spot on, dialogue complexly criss-crosses itself - in the opening scene conversations about the local priest, a dead dog and Joyce’s marriage deliberations elegantly compete for dominance.  Plus there are a range of lines that are perfectly pitched for laughs too.

Overall it’s a sensitive portrayal of a family and how the lives of those left at home were affected by the war and the spirit that got them through.