Melbourne audiences will soon have the chance to see another of War Horse author Michael Morpurgo’s stories on stage, with the World War One award winning drama Private Peaceful to play a brief season at Chapel off Chapel this September.
Adapted for the stage by Simon Reade, Morpurgo’s story relives the life of Private Tommo Peaceful, a young First World War soldier awaiting the firing squad at dawn. During the night he looks back at his short but joyful past growing up in rural Devon.
The heart-wrenching production looks at Tommo’s idyllic life in the dappled fields of his West Country village, the accident in the forest that killed his father, his first romantic love and his journey through the nightmarish killing fields of The Great War.
Productions of Private Peaceful have included seasons on London’s West End, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, UK and Irish national tours and Off Broadway. And like Morpurgo’s hugely successful story War Horse that was made into a motion picture by Steven Spielberg in 2011, Private Peaceful also received a big screen film adaptation starring Jack O’Connell in 2012.
Director Terence O’Connell had the idea for the play to be staged here in Melbourne and approached producer/lighting designer Jason Bovaird of Moving Light Productions Australia. Jason was in New York for meetings last year and caught the show Off Broadway and was so impressed by it that he instantly decided it was the perfect time to bring it to Australia and hopefully present a 2020 national tour after the Melbourne premiere season.
Directed by O’Connell, Private Peaceful will feature the dynamic Melbourne actor Anthony Craig (Melbourne Shakespeare Company) taking on the role in this one man play.
“A beautifully crafted elegy to the experience of youth in war. By turns funny, heart-warming and poignant.” – British Theatre Guide
Private Peaceful
Chapel Off Chapel, 12 Little Chapel Street, Prahran
Season: 3 – 8 September 2019
Information and Bookings: www.chapeloffchapel.com.au
Image: Anthony Craig stars in Private Peaceful (supplied)