Dragon’s Teeth

Bite the Bullet

Dragon’s Teeth

by Shirland Quin

The Questors at The Studio, Ealing until 28^th October

Review by Polly Davies

When the Questors opened its theatre in Ealing’s Mattock Lane back in 1933, it chose to stage the English premiere of an experimental new play by Shirland Quin, Dragons’ Teeth, described by the Amateur Theatre magazine at the time as “undoubtedly the most experimental work done by a London society in recent months, if not years”.  It was a bold choice then; a contemporary review in The Spectator pronounced the play to be:

“a bold attempt at anti-war propaganda, but the central male character, the inventive officer who destroys his own new war- machine, does not carry conviction, and dream scenes mixed with realism disturb the adjustments of the observer.”

And it is a still bold choice by David Hovatter to update it as a play suitable for performance in the Studio space at the Questors, even if the original number of characters reportedly needed for the last act has been reduced from the original seventy (according to the current programme!) to a modest eight.

Set in some form of weapons testing facility the plot revolves round the testing of a new machine, designed to provide for the control of unmanned flights and unmanned tanks.  The characters divide between those routing for a successful test; deterrence is the only way to secure peace in a future war and the young fiancée of the inventor who is horrified by the idea of her future husband developing a better killing machine.  Millie Jewry as Nellie Marston gives a strong performance as the inventor’s sister clinging to patriotism, to cope with losing two siblings in the last war and there were lovely cameo performances by Jolyon Houghton as Private Higgins and Ruby Barry as Maud.  Reflecting I’m sure Ms Quin’s anti-war belief, a key part is that of Lydia, the peace-loving fiancée, changed by Director David Hovatter from an artist to an Indian actress-dancer to reflect the casting of Sweta Gupta as Lydia.  Her dilemma, faced with the discovery that the man she loves plans to continue developing more and more deadly weapons of war, was totally believable.

As reflected in the earlier Spectator review, the main male characters have more difficult roles to pull off. Omar Aga’s Darell Marston has a very short space of time to demonstrate his change from a man following his brothers’ military footsteps by producing technological marvels, into someone who abhors war.  While it is not clear whether his brother, played by Alex Hunter, is more worried about the country getting ahead in the deterrence game, or progressing his own career.  I don’t know what form the final dream scene took in the original, other than the fact that it so disturbed “the adjustment” of the original reviewer.  So, I was a little apprehensive when I found out it was to be performed as Kathakali theatre.  I should not have worried.  This sequence was brilliant, totally absorbing and so expressive of the power of war and warmongers.  Not least because of its impact in the small studio space.  And it certainly left me wanting to see more Kathakali theatre.  The constant background muted sound of the drums of war was however less effective in the small space.  While setting the mood it was somewhat distracting at times.  Maybe the coincidental timing of this performance of an anti-war play needed a less audible reminder of war than first envisaged. 

Polly Davies, October 2023

Photography by Ewart Shellshear