This is the final part of Ben Kane’s trilogy about the Roman invasion of Germany in AD15. Centurion Tullus will not rest until Arminius is dead and his old legion’s eagle is liberated.

Arminius, the crafty and charismatic tribal leader is determined to raise another large army to fight and destroy Germanicus and his Roman Legions. Can he use all his charm and resourcefulness to persuade the tribes to agree to another battle against the Romans?

The huge Roman army is frustrated by the long, cold wait for the planned spring invasion of Germania. Germanicus and Tullus carefully plan their strategy for the defeat of Arminius and being reunited with the 18^th legion’s eagle – a perilous and bloody mission for all.

Once again Ben Kane is a master storyteller, the historical detail is amazing – death, destruction and bloodshed are everywhere.

Ben Kane was born in Kenya but educated in Ireland. Following University in Dublin he travelled the world extensively enjoying his passion for ancient history. He lives with his wife and two children in North Somerset.

Published by Preface in hardback, priced £12.99

Last year I reviewed the first two books in The Dartmoor Chronicles trilogy and finished up by saying I was looking forward to reading the third book in the series. So I’m happy to see that Evie’s Victory by Kitty Danton (published by Orion) will now be available in hardback priced at £19.99 from 6 April 2017.

As I said before if you like the idea of reading about everyday life in a small Devon village during the second world war, then you need look no further than this trilogy. Kitty Danton was born and grew up in Devon, knows the location well and captures the atmosphere of village life brilliantly. Her portrayal of life on the home front with its deprivations, its highs and lows, and its small victories is also well done.

Again as I said before, I’m less convinced by the author’s need to detail every last thought process, decision and action of the main character Evie. Less would definitely be more in this book, as in the previous two. And yet, it is so easy to identify with Evie, to wish her well and to want to read to the end to see whether everything works out or not.

Evie’s Victory, like its predecessors Evie’s War and Evie’s Allies is a heartwarming read and full of nostalgia for a period which is not far short of 80 years ago.

Evie’s Victory by Kitty Danton (published by Orion) £19.99.

And not just food! Plays and poetry, in playwright David Edgar’s opinion, are natural bedfellows and I would agree, as for this article I’m deserting my preferred area of poetry for plays, in particular the community play. And where I live we are not short of excellent examples.

Having just been at a NODA awards dinner, where the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, won a regional award for its 2016 community production of The Tempest of Lyme, I’d say the amdram world is very much alive and high kicking.

The community play owes a debt to Ann Jellicoe, actor, writer and director, who inspired the community play concept in London before moving to Lyme Regis with her artist husband Roger Mayne. For Jellicoe, the community play had to be the result of a long period of research with the chosen community in order to artistically embed the subject matter of the play, with the people who were to perform it and in the location. And the female perspective is often central, as in her play Western Women, which looked at the role of women in the Siege of Lyme during the Civil War.

At this very moment, cast members from Dorchester: to Lyme, taking in Bridport on the way, are at some stage in production for three community plays, a scene no doubt repeated around the country. The Lyme Regis and Dorchester plays are using community histories as their starting points. For Lyme’s Marine Theatre this is to be the Monmouth Rebellion, a pivotal period in West Country history especially in Devon, Dorset and Somerset, and one which still lingers in folk memory and in place names. A lot of scene setting is being done beforehand, both for the theatre community and the potential audience through talks, workshops and other theatre-based events which allow funds to be raised as well as raising a wider awareness of the play. And the local press are helping to get the town in the “mood” by running a series of food related columns devoted to 17^th century recipes.

The Bridport play has taken as its story the idea of a flea circus led by Madame Celine and has ukuleles at the musical heart showing how varied the subject matter can be for a community play but all sharing community as the starting point. For more information about these three community plays look on their websites. And come to all if you can.

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/monmouth-lyme-regis-community-play-2017

www. ukuleleopera.org.uk

www.dorchestercommunityplay.org.uk
 

“ Why don’t I like it? I’m with Chandler…”

There’s a scene in Friends where Chandler finds himself alone in the front row of a fringe theatre, wondering where all the others are. Just before he leaves, the lights go dark and an actress walks on stage and yells ‘Why don’t you like me?’ He stays, too embarrassed to exit.

Big Guns is not as bad as Why Don’t You Like Me? but there were some moments early on when Chandler’s predicament kept rushing to my mind.

[Debra Baker and Jessye Romeo in Big Guns]

The two characters in the play – conveniently called One and Two – although that is irrelevant because they never name each other – tell a story in the second person. An event has occurred and they have witnessed it – ‘we’ have witnessed it – and we are told what we think and what we do. The whole piece/script is in the form of poetry, a kind of Beatnik performance that I assumed no one actually did anymore.

That and the image of Chandler kept making me smile – inappropriately, given the intent of the story. We’ve been watching things, trawling the internet, communicating with the world from the safety of our home. But we see something. Or, rather, it is about the happen and the anticipation, the stress is unbearable. A video (or is it live? Is it real?) where a man with a gun enters a room. There’s violence. We can’t look away. There are sounds and visions we will never forget. The gruesome event has lodged into our mind. We are scared and alone.

[Debra Baker in Big Guns]

What is fantastic about Big Guns is the premise, the setting (the Yard Theatre has a great atmosphere), the staging (strong design by Rosie Elnile), the lighting (courtesy of Katherine Williams) and the sound (from Kieran Lucas). Especially the sound.

I found the play itself to be flawed in its approach and style. The horror simply didn’t affect me. Slopping a pink milkshake onto the stage, I assume to resemble blood, simply comes across as a childish attempt at gore and effect. Some of Dan Hutton’s directorial vision works – the use of long blackouts to great effect. But I found much of the production lacking in flow, it being at the one intense level for over an hour.

[Jessye Romeo in Big Guns]

The cast, Jessye Romeo plays One and Debra Baker as Two, have more lines to learn than your average Beckett two-hander. They perform randomly with microphones and without, hurling popcorn and fast food around the stage, with gusto and a confidence far superior to the material.

It is a concept so full of promise that falls flat for me because of the cliched performance style. And also because I simply cannot agree with the vision of the world as this bleak and mundane. On the other hand, the friendly audience seemed to like it. Maybe it’s me? Why don’t I like it? I’m with Chandler…

[Jessye Romeo and Debra Baker in Big Guns]

Review by Paul Vates.

Photographs: Mark Douet

Venue: The Yard Theatre, Unit 2a, Queen’s Yard, White Post Lane, Hackney Wick, London E9 5EN

Venue Contact: www.theyardtheatre.co.uk 020 3111 0570

Performances: Until Saturday 8th April 2017. Monday to Saturday 8pm.

Running Time: 70 minutes (no interval)

Facebook: /The Yard

Twitter: @YardTheatre #BIGGUNS