The British pub is full of young Canadian service men and women who are joking, singing and trying to keep their thoughts from their uncertain futures.
London during the German blitzkrieg is the setting for Air Raids & Siren Songs, a musical revue with a revised script by Red Deer playwright Blaine Newton.
Red Deer Players’ remembrance-themed production will be launched at the Springbrook Multiplex Nov. 2. It will travel to the Red Deer Legion for two shows Nov. 4, and run Nov. 9-11 at the Scott Block in downtown Red Deer.
Newton originally wrote the dialogue that links 1940s musical standards (A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, My Blue Heaven, Lili Marlene and others) as a commission for Central Alberta Theatre in the late 1980s.
Red Deer Players members Nigel and Lori Lane were ready to reprise the same show. But after reading what he wrote nearly 30 years ago, Newton decided to do some rewriting first.
“I shortened up some of the monologues and swapped out some of the songs,” he said, until the play felt fresher and more punchy.
With a 14-person cast, Newton wants to convey the high-spirits of the Second World War era but also that beneath the “veneer” of bonhommerie, the young service members were scared and lonely.
“There were Prairie boys joining the navy who had never seen the sea … and how many people at that time would have even flown before, nevermind trained to become a pilot?”
Air Raids & Siren Songs unfolds at the fictional Rose and Crown pub, owned by Alfie, a Canadian First World War veteran who stayed in England and is hosting a new generation of Canadian soldiers.
Newton said some of the soldiers are filled with bravado. They flirt with the barmaid, tell stories, and entertain themselves by singing hokey soldiers’ songs such as Lay That Luger Down.
Poignant memories will be recalled during tunes such as I’ll Be Seeing You, and everybody will experience harrowing moments when air-raid sirens go off. The characters will share their thoughts and fears with the audience through monologues.
The revue’s musical director is Ross Dabrusin, and director is Suzanne Hermary.
Newton partly drew on the experiences of his grandfather, a soldier of the Great War, and his late father, who fought in the Second World War, for the story lines. He only heard snippets of their wartime memories. “Soldiers of that era didn’t talk about it much …”
As fewer of these veterans remain alive, Newton feels it’s more important to continue telling their stories.
People back then sacrificed for “king and country,” he said, but were really no different than us.
For tickets and show times, visit www.reddeerplayers.com.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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