Day: March 21, 2016

‘Oh what a lovely war’ is a satire play which has many references to World War One, including the likes of General Haig.

General Haig could be considered a war criminal, but to some people a war hero.

Haig had little time for new military ideas. He was very much steeped in the ways that he knew – conventional tactics. In 1916, Haig put his belief in one final mighty push against the Germans to be executed in the Somme region of France. The French had been asking for some form of military assistance from the British to help them in their battle with the Germans at Verdun. Haig’s plan was to launch an attack on the Germans that would require them to remove some of their troops from the Verdun battlefield thus relieving the French in Verdun.

The Somme led to the loss of 600,000 men on the Allies side; 400,000 were British or Commonwealth troops. When the battle had ended, they had gained ten miles of land. Haig has been criticised by some for his belief in the simple advance of infantry troops on enemy lines. With 20,000 Allied soldiers killed on Day One and 40,000 injured, some historians have claimed that Haig should have learned from these statistics and adjusted his tactics. He did not. However, the Somme attack was not just about antiquated tactics as the battle witnessed the use of the rolling artillery barrage that should have helped the Allied troops as they advanced. That it did not was more a comment on the fact that the Germans had dug in more deeply than British intelligence had bargained for and was less susceptible to artillery fire. Once the artillery firing had stopped, the British had all but signaled that the infantry was on its way.

There were also references to the gas used in WW1, Phosgene. Phosgene is a major industrial chemical used to make chemicals and Pesticides, but at room temperature it is a poisonous gas. It was used extensively in World War II as a pulmonary agent. The gas is heavier than air so the vapour cloud stays near the ground and spreads quickly.

One thing that interested me was the style of the play. It was scripted in a sarcastic tone, an undermining look on the wars of past and present. Another thing that interested me was the fact that some of the orders given by the commanders and people of higher status were based on themselves gaining the benefits, and often their soldiers having to pay the price with their lives. Over 38 million casualties occurred in WW1. This play is also themed on satire, and the phrase “Lions led by Donkeys” is a perfect representation of this play. General Haig would be the Donkey in this scenario as he caused around 400,000 deaths, which is why he is considered a villain to many people.

This play ‘Oh What A Lovely War’ is filled with corruption, and we can see this where America says “All right, all right, so long as peace doesn’t break out. What about that peace scare in France. Count? Caused a flutter on Wall Street, I can tell you. Have you scotched it? This quote is an example of how money is the key motive for the leaders of certain countries in this war, particularly America as we can see here. This is one of the main reasons why so many soldiers and civilians lost their lives. 

Historical facts: WW1 began on July 28 1914, and lasted until November 11 1918.

In total, 30 countries were involved in WW1.

It has been estimated that around 11% of the French population at the time had been killed or wounded during WW1.

Although the US was only involved in the conflict for 7 months, approximately 116,000 Americans died as a result of WW1.

The battle of Somme lasted from July 1st 1916 until November 18th 1916.

Approximately 7 million civilians were killed during WW1.

intention of the drama/design/script with any relevant background information: The drama performance shows the injustice and the harsh reality of war and how far the soldiers are from home and their families. The main soldier in our performance is named Herbert Smith Jr, named after his father, Herbert Smith Sr. Herbert Smith Sr saved the life of General Haig in this performance. General Haig was a senior officer for the British Army, and he is being portrayed in our performance.

1. planning: I have planned by having a plot to this performance, which shows emotions, feelings and personality traits for each character. Also, there will be spoken thought throughout the performance from each character, which will give extra insight into their personality and better knowledge towards our message. Symbolism, I believe is massively important as it helps the audience to know what our main idea was, and what message we are trying to portray. My symbol as a soldier will be a flimsy letter, which will be read out loud to the audience as a spoken thought. This will bring across sad emotions and will show Herbert Smith Jr as a weak minded soldier. Another area that I feel that has been planned well is the lighting cue’s. When Herbert Smith Jr reads out his letter, red lighting will be shone on him, as I believe red is the best colour to portray sadness and desperation with the resources that we have been provided. When General Haig has his spoken thought, blue lighting will be brought onto the character, to show that he is regretting some of his decisions, but will not allow that to get in the way of his determined motive to win the war. Also, the satire part of the stimulus “oh what a lovely war” has been introduced into my own performance. The General, played by Amjad, undermines the importance of Herbert Smith Jr, and intimidates him throughout the play. My costume consisted of navy overalls and black wellington boots. These are clothes that could be something that a soldier in WW1 would wear, and the boots had traces of mud on them, which could suggest that the soldier has been working hard or in the trenches. My costume showed that I was the odd character in the performance, the clothes did not fit me properly and the other two characters who were part of the war were both wearing military style clothing, which made them look much more professional.
2. how relevant areas of study have been applied: A relevant area of study is the fact that General Haig, who played a massive part in WW1, will be used as a main character in our performance. It is important that we use a real person who actually influenced the outcome of WW1 as it relates to the context. Also, the use of Phosgene gas has been included in my working record above.
3. individual contribution to the chosen brief: My individual contribution to the brief is the letter written to Herbert Smith Jr’s mother. This will show the harsh reality of the war and will give more detail about my character. The letter will describe the characters unwillingness to cooperate in the war.
4. reflection and evaluation: In my dress rehearsal, I changed certain things, such as the decision to show the death of Herbert Smith Sr, and also the position of where this occurred, to give the audience a better viewing and idea of what was going on. When the soldier died, he was picked up and hung there, in the shape of a cross. This was a symbol of death. I chose to show the father’s death at the beginning of the performance so that the audience would understand the reasons for Herbert Smith Jr’s personality and lack of self belief. This was also important to show at the beginning of the performance as the audience would know the reasons and understand clearly why the General would be so harsh towards him later on.