Adelaide Fringe Reviews 2018 - ANTHEM FOR A DOOMED YOUTH

Adelaide Advertiser 20/02/18

THE title of this show gives all the warning you need about the true nature of this one-hour delivery of stories and poems from the trenches of the First World War.
"This is not a barrel of laughs," actor/presenter Guy Masterson says of his one-man show.
What he does provide is a wild and poignant traverse through the verse of noted war poets, including Wilfrid Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, and the retelling of first-person accounts of the men on all sides of the battle.
The vivid words of poet and soldier alike recreate the contemplation before battle, the ragged thoughts of reasonable men overwhelmed as death shreds all before them, and the sometimes psychotic will to survive by any means as soldiers hurtle towards enemy trenches.
And everywhere lie the broken, smashed bodies of comrades and enemies.
More gentle moments come and go ­­— there is even a little ironic comedy — but Masterson achieves his aim of revealing the power of these writings and experiences without ever glorifying the nature of war. (Adelaide Advertiser - 20/02/18)

InDaily Adelaide 20/02/18
The poetry and stories of World War I are brought vividly to life in Guy Masterson's solo Fringe show 'Anthem for a Doomed Youth' at the Bakehouse Theatre.
Guy Masterson is now a Fringe regular whom some festival-goers may have seen in his brilliant one-man show "Animal Farm" a few years ago. He returns this year with a very different program of poetry and stories from World War I to commemorate the centenary of the final year of that enormous conflict.
Masterson is dressed in black, alone on a bare stage throughout. He acts out sections of stories but there is little of the frenetic racing across the stage that we have seen from him in past productions. This is all about the artists and their work.
He researched more than 1000 poems when constructing "Anthem for a Doomed Youth". There is work by Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Rupert Brooke, Isaac Rosenberg and Erich Maria Remarque, as one would expect
But also there are little known poets Paul Granier and Tom Kettle; and scraps from other writers who are virtually anonymous by virtue of their bodies having been blown unrecognisable.
One poem is about the monotony of cracking lice one by one, by hand. Another has the soldier talking to a rat which has jumped over his hand; it's a promiscuous rat, this – one which will be gnashing at corpses on the German side before long. And Granier's "The Andante", in particular, contains glorious subtle imagery.
There are stories that link the works. I never knew that Remarque's sister was beheaded by the Nazis in 1943 in revenge for her brother's pacifist work, and his left-wing leanings no doubt. The bill for the execution was sent to his surviving sister.
Many of the works emphasise the dehumanising effect of war, reducing men to 'the indifference of wild creatures'. But there is also a lengthy enactment of an amusing conversation between a Fritz and a Tommy during the famous Christmas Day truce between the two sides – soldiers with machine guns separated by only forty metres of No Man's Land.
Masterson is a terrific performer. This show confirms how poetry comes alive when it is performed, and how a judicious and sparse use of linking material can shed further light on the works, without detracting from the genius on show.

Clothesline Adelaide 22/02/18
Guy Masterson steps out onto the stage and introduces this production, staged to commemorate the centenary of the final year of the Great War. ANTHEM FOR A DOOMED YOUTH is the first of four plays in the 2018 Lest We Forget series. There's no set, no adornments at all apart from some sparse lighting and sound effects; just Masterson, dressed fittingly in black.
He advises that works by the 'superstars' of the genre, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, will feature heavily, but Masterson also promises to bring us pieces from both sides of no man's land. What follows is a rather brilliant selection of poems and stories that takes the listener from the visceral reality of bodies and lives blown apart, to the more frivolous notions one might experience in the middle of the madness of war – works such as Alfred Lichtenstein's "Prayer Before Battle".
Masterson provides a little background for each piece; something that adds to the humanity of the texts. It is sometimes difficult to marry the beauty of the sentiments articulated with the absolute horror of war.
He reads the only thing he could find regarding the much-mythologised 1914 Christmas Truce, before presenting his own short piece on the same topic; a light-hearted Anglo-German conversation across the trenches. Excerpts from "All Quiet On The Western Front" are dramatic, especially when placed alongside the unnerving yet gentle beauty of Albert-Paul Granier's "The Andante".
The performance concludes with Masterson reciting Wilfred Owen's stirring "Dulce Et Decorum Est", setting the ultimate futility or war in sharp relief.
Guy Masterson is a sublimely skilled performer and his heartfelt execution of these works is a testament to his talents, as well as to those of the authors. This is a most poignant and potent production. Lest We Forget. (David Robinson - Clothesline - 22/02/18)

Broadwayworld 22/02/18
"Anthem for a Doomed Youth" is one of four productions this Fringe in the #LestWeForget series that focuses on the First World War, a selection of performances brought here from the UK by Guy Masterson. His Theatre Tours International and Adelaide Centre for International Theatre have brought us many excellent productions over the years, and this is no exception.
This production features Masterson, himself, in a spoken word performance drawing on a wide range of poetry and prose from some of the greatest writers of the time. This performance takes its title from that of the poem by Wilfred Owen, whose moving poetry features several times in this performance.
Interpreting great literature is nothing new to Masterson, who has previously brought us his one-man performances of "Under Milk Wood", "Fern Hill and other Dylan Thomas" and "Animal Farm".
WWI, before the second one came along, was referred to as 'The Great War', and 'The War to end all Wars' which, in hindsight, was a naïvely optimistic claim. The horrors of that war, though, certainly would have suggested that nobody would ever want to repeat it. The facts and figures are all readily available; how many died, were maimed and injured in each battle on both sides. We know of mustard gas warfare and, perhaps, some of you, like me, have had the opportunity to try on a WWI gas mask and wondered how much use they really were.
This production, though, does not rely on recounting those sweeping statistics, nor does it glorify war. These poems and stories are by, and about individuals and their intimate experiences. This brings home the reality of that conflict far more than numbers on a page. Lice, rats, gas attacks, mortars, rifles, and more are no longer concepts but become realities in the wonderful writings of the war poets, brought to life in the present by a master storyteller.
Not all of the works are from an English perspective. Erich Maria Remarque's, "All Quiet on the Western Front" (Im Westen nichts Neues), is about German soldiers on the front line. He fought briefly on the Western Front before suffering shrapnel wounds. Masterson also tells, in a piece of his own writing, of The Christmas Truce, of 1914, a spontaneous cease-fire when troops from both sides came out into No-Man's Land to celebrate the day. He imagines a humorous interchange between an English soldier and a German soldier, calling to one another from their trenches before emerging to meet face to face. A little humour here and there is welcome to break the bleakness, the intensity, of the major part of the performance.
Well-known poets, such as Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon, and Isaac Rosenberg, lesser-known writers, such as Paul Granier and Tom Kettle, and even some long forgotten and overlooked authors were selected by Masterson from over a thousand poems that he read in his researching to put this production together.
It is Masterson, though, who lifts these from the written word into powerful recitations, living histories as seen through the eyes of those who were there, who suffered and died among their comrades, and now live again through these superb recitations. A little information that he provides about each of the writers adds to the works.
Throughout the performance, Masterson stands alone in a pool of light, centre stage, with only a few sound effects and a number of subtle lighting changes around him for each poem, putting all of the emphasis on the texts and his voice. In this, he excels, infusing each item with great power and poignancy, moving the listeners with the verisimilitude of his embodiments of the numerous writers as he becomes their speakers.
This wonderful production should be high on your list of 'must see' Fringe performances, but you will need to hurry as the season is limited and the Bakehouse in an intimate venue. Don't delay. (Barry Lenny - Broadwayworld.com - 22/02/18)

Edinburgh Fringe Reviews 2014

THE BIG ISSUE 21/08/14 - TIMELESS & HARROWING
Guy Masterson gives voice to the 'timeless and harrowing' words of the War Poets
In his 21st season at the Edinburgh Festival as, variously, director, producer and performer, Guy Masterson has taken a half-step back from the entirely theatrical here, to present an informal but appropriately-staged spoken word tribute to those who died in the First World War through the medium of some of the era's great war poetry.
It's a simple but effective proposition, enhanced no end by the smartness and gravitas of Masterson's performance, where his ability as an actor adds more weight to even these timeless and often harrowing works.
He explains early on that his intention isn't to dance around the build-up and fallout of the war, but to dig deep amidst the viscera of the trenches and to reflect the experiences of the men who fought and died there.
He introduces each new poet as their words enter the fray, and their personae are audibly different. Wilfred Owen, author of the titular piece, is clear-eyed and descriptive, as is Siegfried Sassoon, although his evocation of both the action and the carnage it wreaks is more frayed with nerves in Masterson's reading.
There's a more wordy literary quality to Isaac Rosenberg's In the Trenches, a particular favourite of our host's, while Irish politician Thomas Kettle's To My Daughter Betty, The Gift of God , a gift for her to take into life and adulthood after his inevitable death, is heart-breaking.
There's also an excerpt from Erich Maria Marquez' All Quiet On the Western Front, while the only slight misfire is Masterson's own The Christmas Truce, invented from accounts of the day - not because it isn't arresting, but because it appears to be an intended short play for two performers. (David Pollock - The Big Issue - 21/08/14)

EAST COAST FM - MOVING AND POWERFUL
In this centenary year of World War One, I felt it would be appropriate to include one of the many shows in this year’s Fringe and Festival which cover this subject. I chose this one as I was attracted by the fact that it was to be performed by Guy Masterson, a stalwart supporter of the Fringe who has directed and performed in many successful productions over the last twenty one years.
The proposition is a simple one - Masterson is alone on an empty stage with a large folder full of poems, stories and letters written by the men who fought in and experienced the horrors of war and many of whom lost their lives there.
However this is not simply a reading of these works - Masterson is an accomplished actor and from the outset, he brings the words and scenes alive to us in a most moving and powerful way. With effective lighting and a background soundtrack of machine gun fire, we are conveyed to the trenches and we can almost see the battlefield and feel the fear and helplessness.
There are poems from well-known British war poets Siegfried Sassoon, Rupert Brook, Wilfred Owen and Isaac Rosenberg, writings from the German side such as Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front and lesser known works such as the heartbreaking poem by Irishman Thomas Kettle 'To My Daughter Betty, Gift of God'. Knowing he will not come back from the war and knowing he will be vilified by some for fighting for the British, he writes a farewell to her and to tell her why he and others like him died: "they died not for flag, nor King, nor Emperor, but for a dream born in a herdsman's shed and for the secret Scripture of the poor".
It is not all relentless doom and gloom - there are a couple of lighter hearted pieces on the banter between the two sides at the Christmas truce and on the ingenious methods employed by the men against the problem of body lice.
Always, though, there is the constant and underlying presence of danger, death and dying. This is a poignant reminder of what others suffered and endured for us and the warning against glorification of war that is Owen's 'Dulce et Decorum Est' is a fitting way to finish. (Irene Brownlee - East Coast FM - 18/08/14)

BROADWAY BABY 14/08/14 - CEMENTS MASTERSON'S REPUTATION AS A MASTER
By turns harrowing, tender and witty, Guy Masterson's one-man commemoration of the soldiers of the First World War is a poetry reading of first-class calibre. With over a hundred shows during the course of twenty-one years at the Fringe, Guy Masterson has had plenty of time to cut his teeth as a performer, director and producer. This experience shows: he knows how to make an audience feel at home with off-the-cuff stage patter, providing light relief from some of the heavier material.
Taking its title from Wilfred Owen's poem of the same name (Owen's work features predominantly in the show), Masterson works his way through the poetry of not only the household names of English poets such as Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and Rupert Brooke but also that of Irish, French and German writers, each of which is introduced with a short biography. His renditions of classic pieces such as Brooke's The Soldier and Owen's Anthem For Doomed Youth and Dulce et Decorum Est are all delivered with a range of inflection and sense of pace that would make even the most accomplished poet jealous. Moreover, his presentation of poets to whom posterity has not been kind, such as the Irishman Tom Kettle, is an inspired directorial decision.
Despite his opening claim of not wanting to 'appropriate' the testaments of these men, Masterson is not afraid of upping the ante in some of the more dramatic pieces. At times, I felt that this detracted somewhat from the sentiment behind the poems, which are after all personal documents and not scores for dramatic exposition. This, coupled with the fact that during these pieces his delivery tended to be all one plane (one of panic and terror), made these the least effective weapons in Masterson's poetic arsenal.
By far the strongest point of the show is Masterson's own fictional account of the Christmas Truce of 1914. Spurred on by the fact that there has been surprisingly little written about it, Masterson has woven his own comic dialogue between Fritz and Tommy on Christmas Eve, 1914. Like his patter between readings and then some, this vignette strikes exactly the right balance between pathos and comedy. Simply put, this show cements Masterson's reputation as a master of his art. (Rik Baker - Broadway World - 14/08/14)

FRINGE REVIEW 18/08/14 - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED SHOW
Anthem for a Doomed Youth is Guy Masterson's new work in commemoration of the Centenary of the Great War. The show is a compilation of some of the finest poetry and literature from WW1 condensed into an hour of theatre, featuring the works of well known British poets Owen, Sassoon and Brooke, but also hitherto little known French and German authors including an excerpt from Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front.
Guy Masterson has been a Fringe regular for over twenty years. He introduces Anthem for a Doomed Youth as a tribute to those who fought in the First World War. As in most of his shows there is no elaborate set; however for this show he has also stepped back from character acting and appears as himself, simply carrying a folder containing the poems. He is at pains to point out that he has a script because he wants us to remember that these are the words of others and that he does not intend to appropriate them. Having said that he clearly knows the text he is working with very thoroughly; the show is not simply a rehearsed reading.
Although there is no set he does make good use of lighting and of sound - mostly that of the haunting thump of heavy artillery and shells falling, but also the gentle music of an andante referred to in one of the poems.
The choice of what to include must have been a challenging task with so much fine work to choose from. The result is a number of pieces from well known British poets: Owen, Sassoon and Brooke, but also hitherto little known German authors including an excerpt from Marque's All Quiet On The Western Front and a French poet Paul Granier. Granier's work (trans Higgins) provides a striking contrast to the lyrical expressions of many of the British poets that we are familiar with - his work comprising short, hard hitting lines and vivid images: 'Juddering iron buckets clanging, jerking deadweight chains clanking' and Masterson delivers the lines with a punch that hits you in the guts. However, it isn't all guns and gore; there are lighter moments - of the camaradie, the writing home to families, the imaginative ways of dealing with lice...
His presentation approach spans traditional reading and very expressive dramatic portrayals. His powerful delivery together with the variety in pace ensures that the mid-afternoon audience are never tempted to let their concentration slip. He is particularly skilled at addressing the audience with great warmth, almost as a group of friends with whom he is sharing both the poems and something of the background and biography of the poet (very few of whom survived the war).
He has also included one example of a letter home and an imagined scene in no man's land on Christmas Eve 1914. Both added to the story but, as single examples of each genre, sat a little awkwardly - hopefully he will consider adding a little more of that kind of material in the future for balance.
At sixty minutes this show felt just right for a fringe event; however, I also felt there is scope to develop it and add more (or possibly reintroduce some of those pieces that I suspect were hard to leave out in the first place) to create a full length show.
Overall, it is a powerful and moving piece; an hour where you feel you have stepped out of this frantic modern world into another, completely different one. A place where everyone's life was dominated by the war. It took me a little while to adjust to the noise and bustle of the festival and Edinburgh streets as I left; a measure of the impact it had.
(Kate Saffin - FringeReview.com - 14/08/14)

BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE 13/08/14 - PASSION & HEART
Guy Masterson is known for his one-man shows and his amazing memory. For this production, however, he chooses to keep the book in his hand as he does not wish it to appear as if he owns the material.
This sensitive introduction to the show firmly places it as a tribute and allows Masterson to show part of his own personality for a change. His own warmth and his clear respect for these men shines through in this and all his introductions to the various pieces.
It is not, however, just a collection of poems read aloud. Masterson acts the pieces, aided by sound effects and dimmed lights, creating an atmosphere that is sombre but subtle enough to let the imagery in the poems remain the key.
Masterson creates many different characters and, even with such serious subject matter, manages to pepper the gloom with a few laughs from his German and English Christmas day conversation in the trenches.
At times quiet and reflective, at others loud and desperate Masterson uses all of his experience to create light and shade in what could have been a depressing show.
This, instead, is a moving collection of poems written by soldiers on all sides of the conflict. Some are recognisable, others less so, but Guy delivers them all with equal passion and heart. (Amy Yorston - British Theatre Guide - 13/08/14)

THE BIG ISSUE 07/08/14 - TIMELESS & HARROWING
Guy Masterson gives voice to the 'timeless and harrowing' words of the War Poets
In his 21st season at the Edinburgh Festival as, variously, director, producer and performer, Guy Masterson has taken a half-step back from the entirely theatrical here, to present an informal but appropriately-staged spoken word tribute to those who died in the First World War through the medium of some of the era's great war poetry.
It's a simple but effective proposition, enhanced no end by the smartness and gravitas of Masterson's performance, where his ability as an actor adds more weight to even these timeless and often harrowing works.
He explains early on that his intention isn't to dance around the build-up and fallout of the war, but to dig deep amidst the viscera of the trenches and to reflect the experiences of the men who fought and died there.
He introduces each new poet as their words enter the fray, and their personae are audibly different. Wilfred Owen, author of the titular piece, is clear-eyed and descriptive, as is Siegfried Sassoon, although his evocation of both the action and the carnage it wreaks is more frayed with nerves in Masterson's reading.
There's a more wordy literary quality to Isaac Rosenberg's In the Trenches, a particular favourite of our hosts, while Irish politician Thomas Kettle's To My Daughter Betty, The Gift of God, a gift for her to take into life and adulthood after his inevitable death, is heart-breaking. (David Pollock - The Big Issue - 07/08/14)

EDINBURGH GUIDE 07/08/14 - EXPLOSIVE
Guy Masterson has been producing hit Fringe shows for over two decades. This year, however, he is on stage immersing the audience in the horrors young men had to endure in the hell of the trenches of the First World War.
The show starts explosively, literally, as with sound effects he acts out a harrowing extract from a short story encapsulating the terror men in the tranches felt as they were subjected to the relentless shelling in their squalid lice infected pits. With poems and short stories from British and German soldiers we experience vocally the annihilation of young men whose lives were brutally truncated in pursuit of patriotism.
Masterson engages wholeheartedly in the words of these soldiers who put pen to paper to recount the horrors they witnessed. The title of the show - Anthem for a Doomed Youth - was written by Wilfred Owen when he recovering from shell shock at Craiglockart War Hospital here in Edinburgh in l917. He returned to the front and was killed in action a week before Armistice was announced.
If you want to be reminded of the courage these young men displayed in the most appalling conditions then I highly recommend this moving show. (Barbara Ryan - Edinburgh Guide - 07/08/14)

I have always been moved by stories of the great war. Books, films and poems. But, other than the Oscar winning All Quiet on the Western Front, we rarely hear the experiences of our foes. How similar were they to ours? I wanted to investigate the entire poetic landscape from both sides of No-Mans' Land. We are all familiar with the words of Wilfred Owen and Siegfied Sassoon, but rarely do we hear those of Isaac Rosenberg or Erich Maria Remarque...
I don't want to delve into the whys or wherefores of War. War is War and it is awful. I am more interested in the ultimate human drama of the combat soldier offering his life for his country or comrade, and the terrible conditions in which those dramas are played out - a theme I have explored before in A Soldier's Song about a Private in the Falklands Conflict.
And I am very interested in poetry - in particular, the sound of it. I prefer to hear poetry rather than read it. The experiences are quite different. The former is more actualising, the latter, too lonely and cerebral for my taste. Hence this show...
Over the next four years we are commemorating the Great War. Dubbed 'The War To End All Wars' (of course it wasn't and isn't) it pitted ordinary men forced to use elementary military tactics against modern killing machinery. The result was terrible, but the plethora of horror also fomented a huge poetic surge as young men sought to express their sentiments in deeper philosophical ways. I have thus chosen to confine my commemoration to the trenches and the experience of them rather than to include pre and post war sentiment and reflection. I wish to convey the poetry in the moments of ultimate experience.
The fact that many of the poets featured in this compilation did not outlive the war is testament that they wrote in the moment, and the vividness of those moments is dramatic and powerful. That is what I wish to explore.
My selection of Poems is not definitive; I may add to it or I might subtract from it. For now, I have picked those that speak to me the most. There are many others that I have not been able to include. And the story excerpts I have selected from Erich Maria Remarque’s extraordinary All Quiet On The Western Front are of course not poetry, but they are poetic in a different way. Some prose is required as a respite for the ear and the mind's eye.
And my story of The Christmas Truce is entirely fictional, invented from snippets of accounts available online. As with my celebration of Dylan Thomas' poetry and short stories, I have steered away from creating a play. I am not going to pretend that I am a soldier penning the words I am speaking in some kind of set depicting a trench or bunker. I am not dressing up in military garb to look like a soldier. I am far too old for that and probably look a little too much like General Haigh than I'd like to. I will present the words as purely as I can. I don't wish to set and dress the words. I wish to allow you to engage with them and create your own images. You will fill in the blanks much more vividly than I can. Guy Masterson

• The Storyline: Guy Masterson has established himself as one of the world's foremost solo performers with globally renowned titles such as Under Milk Wood, Animal Farm and Shylock under his belt.
• This compendium leads us into the lives and emotions of the soldiers of the trenches of WW1. It igives a deep and compelling insight into the nature of war, sacrifice and honour.
• Any student of modern literature will find this production inspirational to their studies. Guy Masterson recites some of WW1's greatest writers and relives short stories as if he is the writer. The result is an immediate, poweful rendition that is impossible to resist.
• Drama Students will enjoy the physicality of Masterson's performance, his control of voice and language and mastery of multiple characterisation
• Workshops: Guy Masterson gives workshops in creating theatre from the written word, physical performance storytelling, theatre production, taking the stage, creation of presence and charisma within performance.