‘You don’t know him as I do; I love that fellow. I’d go to hell with him.’
Just before Germany’s spring offensive in 1918, British officers are in a dug-out on the front line. Keen young officer Raleigh joins the company and finds Stanhope, his old friend, much changed. Trying to create some sort of normality amidst the horror, are Trotter, who is furious about how the war has interfered with his meal times, Hibbert, who is trying to find a way to escape, and Osborne, who would rather be tending his garden.
Journey’s End is an unflinching portrayal of men facing the unbearable but finding the camaraderie to keep on fighting. R C Sherriff wrote this powerful, moving play based on his own experience in the trenches and The Watermill revives it in this First World War centenary year.
See rehearsal pictures here
Audience comments...
Very powerful play, extremely well cast and very moving. Well done!’
‘An extraordinary experience: can’t imagine the play better done.’
“Superb performance! Well done all!’
‘Amazing show! Fantastic evening.
‘Compelling and very convincing. Wonderfully well acted.’
‘Being an army wife… it makes you think. Fantastic audio and performance. WWI brought to life.’
‘Took me to a different place – gave a glimpse of what it was like to have to face that dreadful situation. Amazing acting and great set.'
'A sublime and moving production, wonderfully acted by all.'
Running Times
Act 1: 90 minutes
Interval: 20 minutes
Act 2: 50 minutes
Directed by Paul Hart
Designed by Katie Lias
Lighting designed by David Holmes
Sound designed by Steve Mayo
Composer Paul Herbert
Assistant Director Neil Bull
David Broughton-Davies
Hardy / Sergeant Major
Theatre includes: King Agememnon in Brian Woolland’s This Flesh is Mine (Testbed 1, Battersea), John Osbourne’s The Devil Inside Him (The White Bear, Kennington), and Zoe Lafferty’s The Fear of Breathing (Finborough Theatre). Other theatres where David has performed include: The Royal Shakespeare Co, Young Vic, RNT Studios, English Shakespeare Co, Salisbury Playhouse, Theatr Clwyd, Playhouse Theatre, New York and Steppenwolf in Chicago.
Film includes: The multi award-winning feature OXV-The Manual which received it’s British premiere this May after a year of Global film festivals and is now released in the US (under the new title Frequencies).
TV includes: Shameless, Casualty, Doctors, Holby City.
Jim Creighton
Osborne
Theatre includes: The Silver Tassie, Fram, Market Boy, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, The Merchant of Venice, Money, Summerfolk, Troilus and Cressida, Peter Pan, An Enemy of the People, Skylight (Royal National Theatre); Brand, The Merchant of Venice (RSC); Richard III (Nottingham Playhouse); 1936 (Arcola); Loot (Tricycle); The Entertainer (Old Vic); Cyrano de Bergerac, Three Sisters (Chichester Festival Theatre).
Television includes: WPC 56, Doctors, The Hour, King Lear, Ashes to Ashes, Emergency Rescue, Holby City.
Jonathan Dryden Taylor
Trotter
Theatre includes: King Lear, Othello, The Captain of Kopenick (National Theatre); Toxic Bankers (Leicester Square/Lowry); Jump (Edinburgh); Scott Mills The Musical (BBC Radio 1/ Pleasance); Lend Me A Tenor, A Small Family Business, The Government Inspector, Chimneys, The Grapes of Wrath, Hamlet (Pitlochry); The Beggars Opera, The Road To The Sea (Orange Tree); The Inland Sea (OSC at Wilton's); Troilus and Cressida (Old Vic); 50 Revolutions, Penny For A Song (Whitehall).
TV: That Mitchell and Webb Look
Radio: Over 20 plays and series for BBC Radio 3, 4 and World Service.
Jon also writes extensively for TV and Radio.
Robert Fitch
The Colonel
Theatre includes: Oberon/Theseus (Stafford Festival Shakespeare); Anne Boleyn (The Globe and ETT); Edward II (The Rose); Terms of Endearment (York Theatre Royal and tour); The Wings of the Dove (on tour); Dangerous Corner, Ten Times Table, Intimate Exchanges, Stage Struck, Absurd Person Singular, Deadly Nightcap, One For The Pot (Theatre Royal Windsor); Marrying the Mistress (on tour); Over The Moon (The Old Vic); Wait Until Dark (The Garrick).
Film includes: Day of the Flowers, Shaun of the Dead, Citizen vs Kane (winner Prix Canal Plus at Clermont Ferrand short film festival 2009).
Television includes: Doctors, The Queen’s Sister, London’s Burning.
Radio includes: Time to Move, Telling It The Way It Is, Together for the BBC.
Edward Killingback
Hibbert
Theatre includes: Versailles (Donmar Warehouse); The Low Road (Royal Court); Posh (ATG/Royal Court); Clybourne Park, The Merchant of Venice, Arabian Nights, Night Must Fall (Richard Burton Company/RWCMD); The Importance of Being Earnest, Under Milk Wood, Pride and Prejudice, Richard III (RWCMD).
Film includes: Don’t Hang Up, Girls’ Night Out, About A Dog, Would Like To Meet.
Radio includes: Under Milk Wood (RWCMD).
James Mack
Raleigh
Theatre includes: Terry in Confusions (Theatre Royal Haymarket Youth Company); Traveller in The Insect Play (Theatre Haymarket Youth Company).
Parts whilst training at Guildhall: Aaron Kreifels in The Laramie Project; Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night; Arthur Gride in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby; Cecil in Toast; Duke Frederick/Duke Senior in As You Like It.
William Postlethwaite
Stanhope
Theatre includes: Our Ajax (Southwark Playhouse); King Lear (Bath Theatre Royal) Longing (Hampstead Theatre): Cinderella The Midnight Princess (Rose Theatre Kingston); Collaborators (Cottesloe and Olivier Theatres at The National Theatre); Fireface (Young Vic Theatre) As You Like It (Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester).
Television includes: Foyles War; The Suspicions of Mr Whicher; Midsomer Murders, Holby City
Film: Containment
Ryan Van Champion
German/English Soldier
Ryan is making his professional theatre debut in Journey’s End.
Theatre credits whilst training at Guildhall include: Ben in Rags; May '08 directed by Richard Wilson; Matt in The Laramie Project; Bridegroom in A Respectable Wedding; Tim Linkinwater in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby; Peter in Toast.
TV: Casualty for the BBC.
Radio includes: Georges in The Boneless Wonder.
Ben Worth
Mason
Theatre includes: Street in the Sky (Encounter Theatre Company); The Room Inside (Leicester Curve); Face to Face (Park Theatre); Thatcherwrite (Theatre 503); A Misunderstanding (Southwark Playhouse); I Believe In Unicorns (Theatre Alibi).
TV includes: Just Us (ITV) Being Human (BBC3).
'the strength of characterisations... develop the sense of both physical and emotional incarceration.'
'James Mack is the young, enthusiastic and naive Raleigh highlighting the futility of war, yet it is William Postlethwaite’s complete immersion into the role of Stanhope that proves to be the deciding factor as to the success of this production'. The Stage
Read the full Stage review here
'The play was enhanced by Katie Lias’s atmospheric set, and the important sound and lighting effects. Director Paul Hart has given us a production that is moving, thought-provoking and an unforgettable window onto a world where sacrifices great and small were made in the name of duty.' Newbury Theatre
Read the full Newbury Theatre review here
'This extraordinary work is done full justice by The Watermill...'
'...director Paul Hart has squeezed very gram of nuance from the deceptive script.' Henley Standard
Read the full Henley Standard review here
'The splendid Watermill Theatre, near Newbury, has revived one of the greatest war plays every written, Journey’s End, to commemorate the First World War centenary.'
'The intimate Watermill Theatre is ideal for the brilliantly designed setting,'
'...everyone associated with this excellent production can feel justly proud of their achievement...'
Read the full Daily Info, Oxford review here
'Directed with passion and clarity by Paul Hart.' Newbury Weekly News
“Sherriff gives an unflinchingly forensic though compassionate account of how differently men react to being so close to death and Hart's first-rate cast calibrate the different emotions each man feels over four days in this hellish situation.” Whatsonstage ****
Read the full Whatsonstage review here
'... [there's] a feeling akin to awe in the auditorium.”
“Director Paul Hart has elicited striking performance from what is clearly a top-drawer cast.” *****The Good Review
Read the full Good Review review here
‘…Journey’s End doesn't seem to have dated at all — especially in a production that’s as well judged and staged as this one.’
'...one of the many scenes that fizzle with tension in this new Watermill production...' ***** Oxford Times
Read the full Oxford Times review here
'It’s gripping and beautifully done, even though you know it’s not going to end well.' Wiltshire Gazette and Herald
Read the full Wiltshire Gazette and Herald review here