Theatre review: Pink Mist

The war in Afghanistan isn't a new subject for theatre, but there's always new ways of looking at something and that's what Owen Sheers' verse/dance piece Pink Mist does. John Retallack and George Mann's production comes to the Bush from Bristol, where the play is also set, as three teenagers with dead-end prospects see a way out in the army. Carrying the bulk of the script is narrator Arthur (Phil Dunster,) who's the first one to sign up and persuades his two best friends to join him: Taff (Peter Edwards) doesn't take much convincing but it's a harder sell for the youngest of the trio, 17-year-old Hads (Alex Stedman.) They do both end up joining Arthur in basic training though, and eventually on to Afghanistan, and the fact that Arthur was the one who convinced them ends up haunting him as their initial good luck sours, and a land mine sends Hads home with both his legs amputated.

Theatre review: Girlfriends

The Howard Goodall season at the Union concludes with Girlfriends, about the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during World War II, with Goodall providing the music and collaborating with Richard Curtis and John Retallack on book and lyrics. The cast features 10 women, playing the girls who enlisted to help behind the scenes on RAF missions, starting with menial but crucial jobs like folding and packing parachutes, getting to know and have relationships with the airmen, not all of whom would be returning from their missions. It's largely an attempt to give an overview of the WAAFs' lives, but it does feature a fairly slight central story of best friends Amy (Corrinne Priest) and Lou (Perry Lambert.) The latter falls for dashing pilot Guy (Tom Sterling) but he only has eyes for her friend. Meanwhile Jas (Catriana Sandison,) whose family has been devastated by bombings, becomes disillusioned and questions the value of simply inflicting similar damage on German families.