REVIEW
Journey’s End, Micheldever

IT is five years since the first performance of R C Sherriff’s Journey’s End in St Mary’s Church, Micheldever.

In the four years of the First World War, millions of people lost their lives and an even greater number had their lives changed forever by bereavement and mental anguish.

One hundred men from the parish of Micheldever went to fight in the First World War, 45 never returned. This production was Micheldever’s tribute to those men who gave their lives so that we could have our freedom.

John Lofthouse’s production managed to reunite almost all the original cast from 2009.

Anyone who stayed away because they thought that this might not live up to the superb previous performance made a big mistake, this production excelled in every way.

The play is set in a ‘dug out’ in the trenches of March 1918 on the eve of a major offensive.

From the opening scene of Hardy (played by Peter O’Keefe) cheerfully drying his sock over a candle to the death of the newest recruit as the Last Post played, this was a passionate and reflective production which would have graced any professional stage.

Above all, credit for success must go to John Lofthouse and Richard Vellacott who respectively directed and produced a play which no one who was able to see it will forget. In this commemorative year, this was an emotional tribute to the men of Micheldever who gave their lives for our country and must never be forgotten.

Tim Pattinson