REVIEW | Waiting for Anya, Barn Theatre

★ ★ ★

Reviewer - Eliott

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.

After The Barn Theatre took on The Mozart Question in their 2022 season to rave reviews, they are back with another Michael Morpurgo classic, this time his 1990 Carnegie Medal shortlisted novel, Waiting For Anya. Turned into a feature movie that was released in 2020, the story follows the life of Jo Lalande and the village in which he subsides during the Second World War. When befriending the Widow of whom is just outside of the boundaries of his home, he helps with food and necessities brought from the village to help aid Jewish children who are being hidden away for the fear of being captured by the Germans.

The bunker-like feel of The Barn gives an eerie feel for this tale, and Ceci Calf's set & costume help aide the authenticity of the surroundings. You can't help but get drawn into the terror of the German Corporals when they tower over the scenes and us as an audience. Simon Reade's adaption of the novel perceives a rapidness with short burst scenes that really treats us with necessary dialogue and nothing that feels filled with short interactions of no importance, giving reflection of the fast events of the war, and how quickly everyone changed in such an awful time in our history. It's one of the slickest scripts that The Barn has led with in recent years, and is why it's a joy to see that Waiting For Anya is the first script publication for the Cirencester based theatre, where you can purchase the Playtext during the run for £10 from the foyer, or online, published by Samuel French.

In terms of the company, Jack Heydon gives a very strong, leading performance as Jo Lalande, who not only captivates in the role, but we could go as far as to say one of the greatest performances in The Barn's history of produtions. Christopher Staines, portraying German Corporal Wilhelm, must also be of mention for whom we can't help but sympathise with due to his connection with the locals of the village. The rest of the ensemble play well on stage to convey villagers and various animals, with some impressive scenery changes handled exquisitely by the company, but the nature of short scenes pasted throughout gives us a lack of emotional connection to the named characters in which we are presented with; what should be a dramatic find near the end of the production feels quick and giving us a lack of moment where we can register the development, before it's executed on stage.

A moment of madness and horror that occurs during a nightmare sequence for Jo Lalande, who visions a Bear coming out of the shadows towards him (a thread which feels unresolved and never explained), is where the biggest talking point of the evening happened; I must commend the team at The Barn Theatre, most importantly the Front of House team, for being so open and understanding to how moments like these can trigger audience members who may be coming in blind to the show, as the Sound Design feels jarring in places and often be too loud, and there was no signage before entering the auditorium regarding gun shots, or other themes that can be triggering for any audience. After a chat with the team though in the interval, it was promised to be looked into for future audiences coming to see Waiting For Anya.

As one of the slickest scripts and leading performances in The Barn's recent history, it's worth making the trip out to Cirencester to see Waiting for Anya; it's full of heart and beautiful songs, but deprives us on giving emotional strands to characters who we should gravitate towards.