Lambs

The future of theatre is ensured if it is left to performers of the young artists of the Free Agents Youth Theatre! Lambs is an extremely powerful piece of theatre that is sure to move any theatregoer.

Written by Director Sean Riley in collaboration with his students, it explores the residents of a fictionalised country town named St Jude during World War I, when many boys and young men sought an adventure across the world by signing up to the Australian Imperial Forces despite being below the minimum age of enlistment.

Riley says the impetus for play’s theme stemmed from his interest in recordings of WWI Diggers at the Australian War Memorial. “Students create the world, the characters, [the] truth of the piece. Then they fill me up with months and months of improvisation, and then, like a game of kerplunk, when I feel full, I write it. Then when they come to it, they have this amazing sense of ownership.”

“The eighteen ensemble members, who are aged seven to twenty three, have engaged with true stories of ANZACs and historical material from the period to bring the boys’ stories to life through a mix of soliloquies, dialogue scenes, period-accurate costuming, an original soundtrack, and film projection.” Riley explains that the play takes audiences from St Jude “to No Man’s Land, an army hospital behind the frontlines, northern France and the trenches”. It also shares the perspective of female characters and explores the lives of those left at home.

The genius behind this amazing piece of theatre is the talent of the adults who guide and mould the young artists to be the best they can be. Riley’s writing and direction is sensitive and ‘in your face’ bringing to life the innocence of children, the horror of the trenches where boys fought and witnessed atrocities alongside grown men, and their return to a country forever changed by war. Riley challenged his young artists with his material and they more than rise to the challenge!

Riley’s script and the young artist’s performances are enhanced by Kim Liotta’s design and Nic Mollison’s atmospheric lighting and mist that bring to life the cold, damp and muddy trenches and the searchlights that relentlessly illuminate scenes of suffering.

Eadan & Justin McGuiness’ visuals (from Little Fire Film) projected at the back of the stage highlight the bleakness of the boys’ homes and of course the battlefields together with Doctor Oscillator’s amazing score and sound scape that gives the audience the experience of being in the middle of WW1. This is one of the finest scores I have heard for a long while!

It is hard to single out a performance as this is an ensemble piece and all the performers deliver solid work, however Jack Chadwick as Joseph Banks (a narrator of sorts) delivers monologues that would challenge any older actor, standing on a mountain of chairs, or does it represent a pile of bodies?

Eadan McGuinness’ performance as Stanley Lamb is full of complexity and boy-like innocence, particularly his inhuman wails on the battlefield and his initial reticence to join the war.

Hugo de Guzman, Stanley’s adopted brother Phillip, keen to go on a ‘great adventure’ returns from the war with half a face and must face the harsh realities of life without sight.

Chelsea Bishop, the boy’s mother watches her sons leave for the war only to face the fact that they may not be coming home after being presented with an impersonal telegram. Bishop balances the protectiveness of a mother and the heartbreak of ‘losing her boys’ with stoicism.

Finn Caufield’s Mr. Winter, St Luke’s teacher, initially a potential conscientious objector becomes the Lamb brothers’ minder on the battlefields. Like the boys he is protecting, his life is changed forever.

The rest of the ensemble play multiple roles with ease, at times with commendable French accents!

A gut-wrenching moment for me was the boys calling for their mothers when faced with the barbarity of war.

Lambs is a landmark in Youth Theatre and packs a massive punch emotionally and visually with a message that still is relevant today - “Behind the work is the failure of adults to protect children. And World War I is the example of that.”

Bravo, Free Agents Youth Theatre!

Barry Hill OAM