Last Man Standing began with a symphony of sadness as the cast, some dressed as soldiers, some as serving maids stood completely still spread around the corners of the room. They sung the audience into their seats with a: ‘there’s a silver lining through the dark clouds shining… keep the home fires burning, whilst your hearts are yearning.’

What unfolded was an affecting depiction of heightened human emotion: bitterness, devastation, love, loss, laughter. All were given their moment centre stage. From the selfish soliloquy of Edmund Carrington, to the poignant pain of Peggy Watkins at the death of her brother and lover, to the selfless sacrifice of Tom Dawson, sentenced to death for disobeying orders whilst trying to save his friend.

Youthful frivolity and comedy, concepts not usually wed to topics such as the World War were smartly sewn into the story telling. Through calculated lighting and clever set design, (overhead a canopy of flowers hung, whilst straight ahead barbed wire winked wickedly) time was transformed into a transient thing as the narrative jumped between past and present throughout the performance. One moment we were watching Tom Dawson, Peggy Watkins, Joe Andrews, Stanley Watkins and Jenny Wilson play in an orchard, stealing secret kisses, singing silly songs, and the next, the boys were in the trenches, demoralised and downhearted. It is here that the simple-minded Stanley Watkins wonders about the enemy soldiers across the way.  The boys joke for a moment before Tom Dawson interjects with: ‘they’re the same as us shivering in the night… wondering what we’ve done to end up here.’

It is in the trenches that Director Courtney Larkin toys with the notion of the enemy. It is made clear that the enemy of Tom Dawson, Stanley Watkins and Joe Andrews is not the opposing soldier, rather Edmund Carrington, a wealthy boy from the village automatically made Sargeant, who harbours a deep hatred of Tom Dawson because of a girl.

The girl is Jenny Wilson and the earlier narrative follows a story told time and time again: a secret love affair, resulting in pregnancy, spurning and sacrifice. This facet of the play was probably the weakest, which was not the fault of the actors. The story itself has just been too frequently told. Perhaps that was the point, to tie the spectres of the past to us in the present through emotions we have all felt, and stories we are all familiar with. As a point of interest, the pay itself was originally written by GCSE students, and was based on the turbulent situations they themselves had experienced.

Last Man Standing was a provocative performance that nodded at complex human emotion, brotherhood, propaganda, truth, and historic fact. Its actors devoted an enormous amount of energy to their roles. Josh Milner who played Tom Dawson and Jack Cordon who played Edmund Carrington deserve particular applause for the authenticity they brought to the stage. Last Man Standing served its purpose as a reminder that there is no glory in war, just bloodshed and devastation, ending on a haunting note with a ‘ring a-ring o’roses, a pocketful of posies. A-tishoo! A-tishoo! We all fall down…’

Last Man Standing played at Theatre N16 until 18th of November.