Heroes

Any Dream

Heroes

by Gérald Sibleyras, translated by Tom Stoppard

Richmond Shakespeare Society at the Mary Wallace Theatre until 8^th June

Review by Salieri

Looking back on this play, the first thought I had was part of a quotation from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where Oberon returns Titania to her original self.  The part-quote includes “the fierce vexation of a dream”.  Heroes fits this, in that we have three elderly ex-officers from the war who have been together in their care home for many years.  And, as the play progresses, we see the “fierce vexation” as they try to escape from their current life without any real future, none of which could really work, but it does not daunt them.  We are surely looking at their forthcoming dreams.

But this is basically a comedy, albeit with many more moving and soul-searching moments.   During its progression our dauntless three come up with a number of increasingly ludicrous ideas to put their “plans” into action.   What the play needs is careful direction, with nothing overdone – no gimmicks, strict attention to the script and to the period (which is set in 1959), all of which was faithfully observed.

Of course it will only completely work if the actors are up to the mark, and RSS are fortunate that all three of them knew what they were doing and knew how to work together.  Francis Abbott (Gustave), John Mortley (Philippe) and Chris Haddock (Henri) produced very fine performances.  The comedy dialogue is gentle with the odd one-liners rather than any specific “funnies” and they all used it as it came, not to try and go for more than the text required.  A big gain was that their voices matched each other; we laughed at the entertaining banter which were frequently added to their many conversations.  We do not want comic turns, we want real people whose situation we can believe in –  even sympathise with, however silly as some of it is.   Of course there are some semi-OTT moments such as when Gustave tries to mount the others on his back, followed by the beautifully ridiculous moment when they tie themselves together: not with a rope which they do not have, but with a fire hose reel.  What may sound like a slapstick moment is not: if anything it is the most poignant moment towards the end of the play: the dreams have come across a barrier and Henri is the one who has to end it all by realising that they can’t leave.  It is he who tells his compatriots and the audience, “Nothing changes”. 

The ending was quite surprising in that the conclusion was swift and brief: they all saw a flight of geese whose sound gradually increased in volume before being cut off.  For a while I was myself “vexed”, but wondered if the ease with which the geese repeat the departure and subsequent arrival ad infinitum, contrasted with the inability of the three heroes to stay where they were and thus not go anywhere. 

The set matched the play by its pastoral presentation: the view of the house in the middle-distance provided balance: the lighting was most acceptable and the sound took us back to World War One, and to World War Two (with Vera Lynn) and then French songs which aptly fitted the small blackouts between individual scenes.

All in all it was an evening of entertainment laced with thought, so I bring myself back to another part of my Shakespearian quotation: “be as thou must wont to be”.  Nevertheless, Henri, Phillippe and Gustave will surely go on dreaming for as long as they can.  As Messrs. Rice and Lloyd Webber said “Any dream will do”.

Salieri, June 2024

Photography by Pete Messum