REVIEW: Pvt. Wars
‘Pvt. Wars’ is only on at Belfast’s Grand Opera House until Saturday, so first thing’s first: go buy a ticket now to see this well-executed, underrated gem of a play from James McLure.
Now for the ‘why’.
‘Pvt. Wars’ is funny. Funny in the way that only a great tragedy can be. Chris Robinson (Natwick) deserves props for making ‘asphyxiation-by-chair-leg’ a laugh-out-loud sight, while Gerard McCabe had the audience constantly amused with Gately’s drawling, glazed-eyed responses to Martin McCann’s Silvio romantic roleplaying and unhinged scheming. The singles’ bar scene between McCabe and McCann is one of the play’s true highlights, and serves as an example of the natural chemistry between all three of these actors.
The main plot focuses on these three men, who have been scarred by the Vietnam War, in a Veterans’ Hospital. Natwick is a seemingly-dismisive intellectual, whose arrogance masks his struggle to feel accepted by the others; Silvio is a show-boating, self-termed ‘psychopath’, whose comic full-frontal flashings are an attempt to compensate for genital injuries sustained in the war; and Gately is a meandering, floundering figure, both emotionally and physically at the centre of the play. Each character attempts to come to grips with a pervading concern throughout the course of the narrative, to frustrating ends.
Natwick is perpetually engrossed in The New York Times, creating a barrier between himself and the other patients, as Gately preoccupies himself with a technical task and Silvio finds it near impossible to sit still for more than 20 seconds.
It is this detachment which troubles Natwick. He longs for a sense of fraternity, trying repeatedly to forge a bond with the wound-up Silvio, to little success. Silvio, meanwhile, has lost security in both his sexual and national identities as a result of the War. He is constantly flashing the nurses, while his dream of appearing on The Johnny Carson Show is just one of many digs at America’s fascination with celebrity culture, instead of caring for its damaged soldiers.
Silvio’s concerns about his manhood and his patriotism come together when he contemplates wearing a Scottish kilt, a sartorial emblem of both a masculine and national identity untouched by the trauma of the Vietnam War.
Finally, there is Gately. All Gately seems to want is to fix a radio, believing that if he does so then he can leave the hospital. But as the play evolves and he is reminded again and again that, “You can leave any time you want”, we see that in actuality Gately is striving for any kind of purpose or drive to keep him going, and doesn’t know what that purpose would be in the outside world.
It is the fear of the unknown which ultimately draws all the characters together.
Bottom line: Go see ‘Pvt. Wars. It’s on a limited run and you do not want to miss it. When you see cinema listings consisting of 70% sequels and 30% CGI, it’s nice to sit in a theatre for 90 minutes and see a couple of talented actors just *gasp* ACT!
'Pvt. Wars' was produced by Pintsized Productions: keep up to date with all they are doing via their website.
