Literally the journey's end of the men (Journey's End - R C Sherriff)

Member Name: luced

Product:	Journey's End - R C Sherriff
Date:	14/06/08 (744 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: playwriting at its best

Disadvantages: -

'Journey's End' has been popular due to Sherriff's daring attempts to portray a historic battle which will never be forgotten, by using emotions rather than physical action. It was daring because he specifically dates the play before the battle of St. Quentin which was the last German win. The original audience (1928) would catch on to the idea that all of the characters who Sherriff allows the audience to get attached to, will consequently die. Hence the title being 'Journey's End'; literally it is the end for the characters that the audience have become fond of. Daringly enough, Sherriff's play could also have brought up ill feelings in the original audience about the war and memories of loved ones who died during it. Today's audience on the other hand, sees the production more as a history lesson than a memory put on the stage. By making the play very naturalistic by making the conversations between the men very normal, by using old slang like 'righto', and the props being based on those originally found in dug outs adds to the educational value of the play for today's audience. Again this is very daring, as the original audience could have been offended if something was portrayed incorrectly. But as Sherriff, himself, was involved in the war, he seems to have created the play to make future audiences realise the horrific and inhumane realities of war; to pay tribute to those who fought in it and to perpetuate the memory.

The amazing play allows the memory of the men who fought in the war to be carried on in this very emotional play which on its own is not a bad read. Everyone should see this masterpiece in action!

Summary: -