Caroline Quentin will join the ensemble cast of the 2014 Theatre Royal Stratford East 50th anniversary production of Oh What A Lovely War, Joan Littlewood’s satirical musical about the First World War being revived in 2014, 100 years after the start of the start of the conflict.
Directed by Terry Johnson and designed by Lez Brotherston, the ensemble cast will also include Alice Bailey-Johnson, Ian Bartholomew, Oliver J Hembrough, Rebecca Howell, Tom Lorcan, Shaun Prendergast, Zoe Rainey, Kyle Redmond-Jones and Michael Simkins. The musical, which premiered at Theatre Royal Stratford East on 19 March 1963 will run from 1 February–15 March 2014.
This reimagined production of the musical is packed full of familiar songs from the First World War era, juxtaposing with shocking statistics from the conflict and the harsh realities of war. Oh What A Lovely War is a powerful comment against war in general and its message remains relevant to modern audiences.
Caroline Quentin is best known for her roles in the popular television series Men Behaving Badly and Jonathan Creek. She recently performed in Relative Values directed by Trevor Nunn for Theatre Royal Bath and new comedy series, Big Bad World.
Terry Johnson has won nine British theatre awards including Olivier Awards for Best Comedy and Playwright of the Year. In 2010 he won the Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical for La Cage aux Folles. His theatre credits as both director and writer are prolific.
The British Drill Scene from the original production of Oh What a Lovely War
Lez Brotherston is a long-time collaborator of Matthew Bourne. Other work includes Sister Act, Into the Woods and The Far Pavilions in the West End, and The Little Mermaid on Broadway.
Stratford East’s production of Oh What A Lovely War has lighting by Paul Pyant, sound by Mike Walker, projection design by Ian Galloway, choreography from Lynne Page and Mike Dixon as musical director.
Alongside the production Theatre Royal Stratford East has launched an innovative national schools’ programme working with secondary schools and colleges across England. It offers young people the opportunity to make their own work and respond to Oh What A Lovely War in a contemporary context. During the run at Theatre Royal Stratford East there will be 15 curtain raisers and two schools’ events showcasing the young people and their work.
Oh What A Lovely War was created by Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop, along with Charles Chilton, Gerry Raffles and members of the original cast. The title was suggested by Ted Allen, while the military adviser was Raymond Fletcher.
Joan Littlewood (born in 1914) was a pioneering theatre director who developed the left-wing Theatre Workshop, which became permanently based at Theatre Royal Stratford East in 1953. Landmark productions followed including the British premiere of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children (1955), Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey (1958), Frank Norman’s Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be (1959) and Oh What A Lovely War (1963).
Littlewood, who died in 2002, is widely-recognised for leading an extraordinary revolution in British theatre. Peter Hall said she was the “greatest revolutionary of the British theatre. Where the passion is, where the emotion is, where the entertainment is, is where Joan Littlewood is”.
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