Review by Stuart McNiff

FOR KING AND COUNTRY – Grand Opera House Belfast 14^th -18^th April 2009

If you mention Desertion, Shell Shock, Court martial and execution, you wouldn’t really be looking at a happy go lucky night out at the theatre. However, what you do get is a very well written, brilliantly performed portrayal and thought provoking account of a young soldiers experience on the front line during WWI.

Focusing on private Arthur Hamp played by Adam Gillen and his trial for desertion from the front, the tale unfolds to reveal the dilemma that his situation presents for his defence lawyer and the fight against the prosecution.

The story is intense and the scene changes highlight the drama as it unfolds from billet to courtroom in the old château before returning to the makeshift accommodation for the final scene in which private Hamp is found guilty of desertion and executed under firing squad. The scene changes were very well done and the sound very cleverly recreated the background noise of a not too distant battlefield somewhere in Ypres.

As a touring production this drama has played all over the UK with it’s final run at the Grand Opera House in Belfast. Written by John Wilson from Hamilton, Scotland, this play was originally performed under it’s original title “Hamp” at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle in 1964 and later that year at the Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh as an official Edinburgh Festival production as well as enjoying a five month off Broadway run in 1965 before transferring to the big screen in a film version called” King and Country”.

The entire cast portrayed their parts with great enthusiasm and delivered a sobering account of what many hundreds of young men experienced on the front line during WWI. 

Review by Stuart McNiff