Blue Remembered Hills [Performed by Tight Fit Theatre, February 2007]

Dennis Potter, better known for stylised television plays such as Pennies from Heaven and The Singing Detective, scripted this 70 minute gem about the loss of childhood innocence. During the second World War, seven children run free through the Forest of Dean, until a dreadful event changes their lives for ever. This apparently simple tale is made all the more poignant by Potter's celebrated use of adult actors.

The cast must not simply act in a child-like way, they must become children. It would be invidious to single any one of this excellent and cohesive team of actors. Each had been well schooled in the body language and posture of pre-adolescents. They hurled themselves about the stage with complete unselfconsciousness. They sat in the ungainly, but relaxed attitudes of the young, fidgeted with clothing and shifted from foot to foot with pent up energy and these actors certainly had energy! The direction was dynamic giving an spontaneous feel to the action and the stage pictures were interesting yet informal. Indeed, this is one of the best examples of ensemble playing that I have seen.

All is not idyllic in the Forest. Against a backdrop of slatted wooden walls that became by turns a dappled wood, a cave, and a barn, the children's games imitate their elders, who are certainly not their betters. The girls playing 'house', berate the 'daddy' for going to the pub and he in turn experiments with swear words and threats. The boys' play has a violent undercurrent as they become fighter pilots, paratroopers, cowboys and Indians, who shoot and kill each other. Violence becomes real when they kick a squirrel to death and the sight of blood drains away the bravado.

Young Donald, the loner, suffers beatings at the hands of his mother and there was a touching scene as he cried himself to sleep, desperate for his father, missing in action, to return. The others are too young to acknowledge his plight, instead they tease and bully him because he is different and because they can.

It is Donald who becomes the focus for the final tragedy. A prank goes horribly wrong and the gang lock him in the barn, unaware that he has been playing with matches. The climactic scene of the fire is not easy to stage, but get this wrong and the heart of the play is destroyed. Tight Fit made no such mistake, the sound of crackling straw building to a crescendo of splintering wood and falling beams, coupled with the increasing intensity of red light flickering through the slats and the panic engendered by the cast had the audience gripped.

Dennis Potter's script offers an unforgiving challenge; get it wrong and it becomes instantly forgettable. Tight Fit got it right and this production will stick in the mind for a long time. The play continues at Catford until the first week of March - catch it if you can.

[Helen Sharman - GODA]