“Moving Bodies” by Open Road Productions
The Old Library, Mansfield.

This is the fourth play that I have seen by Open Road Productions, following on from “The Same Sky”, “Silver Darlings” and “Grace”, all three very emotive plays.

This is a new play, written by Daniel Ellis and Adam Horvath and follows the story of one man, Bernard Roberts, who turns from being a World Ward One soldier to being a grave digger so that he can give his fallen comrades a peaceful place to rest.

It’s a one man play and includes some brilliant storytelling, painting Roberts' life in pictures in your mind, Combining old war time songs as well as music written especially for this piece with sound bites which take you back through the years, back to the First World War..

There are sections that will bring a tear to your eye with the graphic descriptions of the war and how the men, women and children died. The next minute have you smiling and laughing at Roberts the comedian, the joker of the troupe. Some of the jokes could be seen as just a little sick, but when you think of the sick situation these soldiers were thrown into, it brings the jokes into a more reality situation.

Adam Horvath sings, jokes and shows emotion throughout this short play. He portrays all of the characters, male and female, and you just have to listen to him as the stories just entice you in and make you want to hear more. What I also loved about this character, Bernard Roberts, is that it takes you from a teenager and you are left listening to the aged voice of the man.

The set not only is interesting to look at, but it also used, with its many props in varied ways, depicting several scenes and objects. From a train to a camel to an office, as well as a burial ground, so you can see that this is a very cleverly thought out design by Daniel Ellis, who also directed this piece.

There are also voice overs for the sound bites by Paul Goldsmith and Jake Castle.

It seems that everything that Open Road produce takes you on some kind of emotional journey, and I'm sure anyone who has followed their growth in the world of theatre, will certainly agree.

The Old Mansfield Library show is a one off and the tour for this play next moves to Cheltenham, Birmingham and Sale for five dates in total.