“Pink Mist” by Owen Sheers

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre

Originally written by Sheers as a verse drama for radio about three young soldiers from Bristol who enrol in the army and are deployed to Afghanistan. They see action and then return home to their girlfriend, wife and mother. This play shows the impact on their time in Afghanistan and the effect it has on not just them but their nearest and dearest. Sheer wrote this play based on interviews with over 300 soldiers and their families.

With any theatre that I know little about, I try to resist temptation to watch any YouTube performances, just so that I get the full impact from when I see it on stage, and I am so pleased that I stuck to this premise with "Pink Mist". I certainly benefitted from not seeing any spoilers with this play.

The script itself is powerful and pulls no punches, but there is one part within "Pink Mist" that feels like you have been punched in the chest, it winds you and you feel stunned for a few seconds and you have to gather your senses to make sense of what has just been delivered to you. I have never heard such a quiet audience and it felt at times as if I was the only one there, such was the power and the intensity of this script, and the passion with which the script was delivered.

Directed by Max Bromley, he has brought out of these six actors a performance that none could pull on from personal experience, and delivered pieces that you believe they have all lived through. A true credit as well to the actors to be able to put themselves in the shoes of the characters and deliver the calibre of performances all six gave.

Max also designed the set which was minimal but this is one play where just a few props can speak louder than scenery and settings. You don't need a back drop of war and horror or a nightclub in Bristol to take you there because the words of this play can create all the scenery you need. The end scene where one of the characters is atop a set of ladders is especially emotive with the other characters below. You know exactly what the message is.

I really want to tell you so much about the story presented but, you would not get the same experience as I did tonight, and theatre is all about feeling for me and emotions and there is plenty of both in "Pink Mist".

The cast are incredibly good, and you get the feeling that at the end, they truly feel the emotions, not only from each other's performances, not only their own but the emotions from the audience that they have evoked.

Sophie Jane Corner (Lisa), Harry Marciniak (Taff), Michaela Perry (Gwen), Jack Dewick (Arthur), Claire Waterall (Sarah) and Mthokozisi Mkweli, who I saw play Hads tonight, but is role sharing with Raj Digva (who I am sure will be just as excellent) on the 18th, 19th and 20th performances, deliver such passionate and mature performances. They make you feel that they are performing for you alone and you forget there is anyone else is in the room.

The stage is framed by scaffolding which hold the lighting used for this production, and it is the lighting and the sound design that really create atmosphere in "Pink Mist". You get a feel of being blinded by blasts of light, in the same way that these three soldiers would have been blinded by the explosions when in action.

The nightclub scenes are created well through light and the pin spots making you focus on just the one actor, even though all six are on stage all the time, really draws you in. The Lighting Design is by Allan Green, and is expertly designed to draw maximum impact.

The sound is also extremely important to this play to situate you right in the action. There is a scene with Arthur when he is on a cliff and he finds himself hidden in a cave with a nest of peregrines, and the sound of the birds and the open air just created those images in your mind while listening to the words delivered, like an artist painting pictures in your head. You are there in the disco with the dubstep, on the battlefield with the noises of war, all created with the sound design, by Jack Harris.

But it is also the silences on stage that also create the desired effect. I read somewhere from a Director that you can create just as much with silence as you can with script or sound, and that is spot on here. the gaps left were just long enough to make you feel all sorts of emotion. They give you time to breathe and to digest what you have just heard seconds before and they will also give you time to feel just that little bit uncomfortable as well. This is also a sign of a good Director to gauge the length of any silence in a script, and the confidence and skill of the actor to deliver the silence.

To make sure that everything you see is accurate, Max has drafted in a Military Advisor, Gez Morgan, a Language Advisor, Baktash Kabul and Bristol Guides, Tricia Thorpe and Stephen Hull to make sure everything is as accurate as you can get it. I don't think anything has been left to chance in this production.

I travelled home in silence, taking in the enormity and horror of war and the aftermath of how this affects, not only the returned servicemen but the family of those servicemen, and I put myself in the position of being the father of all three of these servicemen and how I would feel. While I would still be proud of their career choice, I would also be constantly terrified of the possibility that they may not return, and if they did....... Come down and see the play and see if you feel the same.

This play deserves to be sold out every night. Tonight was about three quarters full, from what I could see, but I would love to think that from tomorrow, Max and the cast see no empty seats.

“Pink Mist” is at the Nottingham Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 20 November 2021