Acclaimed children’s author Michael Morpurgo’s book-turn-play ‘Private Peaceful’ is an arresting, deeply moving performance that charters one soldier’s last hours before his execution by firing squad. Accused of desertion, Peaceful is sentenced to death and we follow him on a journey through the past. At turns joyful and blissfully optimistic, at others haunting and gut-wrenching, we see the devastating transition of one young boy from carefree and wide-eyed, to a shuddering, tortured shell awaiting his death.

The performance is an impressive one-man show from Andy Daniel, who bounds on stage with infectious, sparkling charisma, and a character that’s instantly warm and likeable. We are immediately whisked away with Peaceful, dipping and diving through a lifetime of memories with restless energy. We visit his golden boyhood filled with idyllic memories of childhood adventures and the beginnings of his first love with a girl named Molly, and then take trips into increasingly darker moments. Soft yet striking lighting changes guide the audience through the emotional fluctuations of the piece, and bring alive the simple, sparse set.

It captures the exhilarating excitement of the call to war – ‘I’m looking for boys with hearts of oak, for lads that love their country!’ cries the propaganda machine – the blind, exuberant naivety of a new soldier fresh off the boat, and the crushing horrors of reality. As a bleak, straight-faced Peaceful announces to the audience while awaiting death, ‘all I have left is my fear’.

Daniel gives a wonderful performance, although the play slightly falls short in the first act, in which the story does not quite gain momentum, and somewhat lacks in variety. However, by the second act the audience become really gripped when we are shown the desperate terrors of war, and the devastating sadness of Peaceful’s execution – the maddening injustice of which is not lost upon those watching.

Frances Black

Image: wyp.org.uk