The novel, “A Farewell to Arms” written by the extremely talented Ernest Hemingway, has been brought to stage for the audience to witness the events of the fatal love story that occurred in Italy during the First World War. Published in 1929 and based off his own harrowing experiences as an ambulance driver in the war, Hemingway tells the story of an American named Frederic Henry, who enrols in the Italian army. In a hospital in Milan, is where Frederic meets the beautiful but grief stricken Nurse Catherine Barkley and what begins as a game of seduction, soon turns in to a full blown and passionate love affair. Hemingway captures the couple’s determination and bravery to escape the bloodshed of war with calm, unflinching clarity and the climatic ending is what renders his novel a classic. With this being one of Hemingway’s finest novels, Andrew Quick and Pete Brooks do not disappoint, as they successfully direct an innovative and compelling interpretation.
On Friday 24th of October, I was lucky enough to see the first ever stage adaption of this timeless tale. Performed in The Rake, the small stage holds the audience captive with an opening set of bleak, faded hospital beds. Cameras are used by the actors onstage to project the image of the faces of Frederic (Jude Monk McGowan) and Catherine (Laura Atherton) on to the backdrop of the stage which is an intriguing artistic development that adds poignancy to the quotes from the novel that are delivered by the actors around the action. Not only this, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the actors playing the soldiers speak entirely in Italian! Fortunately, there are subtitles provided – another handy way where the video projection is used. Although unusual on stage, the directors smoothly capture the importance of Hemingway’s simplistic and blunt style of writing.
In terms of performance, Jude Monk McGowan as Frederic is charming, but Laura Atherton as Catherine certainly steals the show in the second half of the performance. Catherine’s blind courage and hope for a future happiness beyond the brutality of war is skilfully portrayed coupled with the raw emotion of the powerful ending scene that leaves the audience suspended in a stunned silence.
If you get the chance, I fully recommend reading A Farewell to Arms – in Hemingway’s unique style, it is the perfect fusion of a love story with the grit and action of war.
A Farewell to Arms is still touring: http://www.imitatingthedog.co.uk/dates/ please follow this link to find out more.