It is 1942. During a bombing raid the flight crew of Squadron 463 crash land in occupied Holland and take refuge in the basement of a school. A pilot is badly injured, emotions are frayed and the crew desperately want to avoid capture. What develops from here is an intriguing chamber piece as the crew try to calm their nerves by reminiscing, joking and taking turns at roleplaying their lives back home which suddenly seem so far away.
The contrasting blend of humour and tension is ambitious one but is handled deftly: the characters desperate attempts to find humour in such a dire situation only heightens the oppressive atmosphere.
Their laughs are nervous and are becoming progressively more high strung. It torments them to listen to each other talk but the silence seems more terrifying. So they talk. They talk about their lives back home, the reasons they joined the air force, their jobs before the war. Each question reveals a new division within the group, a new prejudice that would be trivial if the were not contained within the suffocating basement.
Although the performances are proficient and the script is glows with a convincing resonance of the period the production is too short to build the action up to an adequate fever pitch as just when the simmering animosity is potentially about to erupt into violence the production abruptly closes with a bewildering paranormal ending.
But all hope is not lost for this interesting piece, playwright Ciaran McConville says “There is no doubt that the play will develop organically during it’s run.” So perhaps with a little tinkering this will play will develop from something adequate to something outstanding.
3/5
Simon Patrick Biggs
