My Grandfather's War

Sackville Theatre, 14 January 2011

A lone man stands upon a darkened stage, captured in a bright spotlight. His eyes are earnest, sincere, as he speaks in open pride of his grandfather, a Captain in the British Army during the First World War – the ‘Great War’. The actor, Cameron Stewart, is dramatising his grandfather Alexander’s wartime diaries. He tells us that Captain Alexander Stewart never spoke of the war, but committed his experiences and thoughts to a journal. Now, his grandson Cameron reads passages from the diary, ‘chats’ with the audience about his own feelings and memories, and re-enacts the most dramatic or emotional scenes depicted in the diary.

Throughout the play, personal photographs of the Tommy and horrifying war-corroded landscapes appear on a screen behind the actor, illustrating his words with great power. However, intermingled with his poignant reflections and skillful sketches, Cameron Stewart uses dry and often dark humour to get across the fears and pale hopes of the soldiers in the trenches.

The recorded sounds of the battlefield help evoke the nightmarish atmosphere of the Western Front, while Stewart yells his lines with believable terror. He embodies the character of his grandfather with such vigour and passion that he is actually panting and his brow is glistening with sweat as the curtain falls. This was a truly memorable monologue, moving and informative, and a striking introduction to this topic in History.

Anna McGee